ADDIS ABABA – Coffee is strategically important for Ethiopia. It is the country’s largest foreign currency earner, and nearly 25% of the population depends on coffee income for their livelihood. A close look at Ethiopia’s total coffee production reveals that less than 20% currently meets international industry standards to receive the value added prices of higher quality and specialty coffees.
Under the coffee value chain strategy, Agriculture Growth Program – Agribusiness and Market Development (AGP-AMDe) works actively to contribute to the overall goal of a 50% increase in Ethiopian coffee exports that will receive value-added premiums as specialty coffees by 2020, as per the government’s Plan for Accelerated & Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDAP).
The plan focuses on strategically addressing critical system constraints and influencing the national coffee value chain to improve the volume, value of, traceability and demand for high quality coffees, and establishing market linkages to new international markets.
In efforts to connect Ethiopian producers to the international market, AGP-AMDe has organized a buyer visit for a delegation of Ethiopian coffee producers including three unions and one private farm. The visit will take place January 7 to 15, 2014 and is expected to:
- align Ethiopia’s coffee export quality standards and protocols to meet international buyer demand;
- enable understanding of international buyers to obtain further coffee certifications to increase quality exports; and
- facilitate specific buyer-seller connections.
The Ethiopian Coffee Delegation will meet with the following US firms:
- Rogers Family Company, Sacramento, CA
- Royal Coffee Importers, Emeryville, CA
- Peet’s Coffee, Emeryville, CA
- Representatives of West Coast trading houses, Bay Area, CA
- Gaviña Coffee, Greater Los Angeles area, CA
- Farmer Brothers Coffee, Greater Los Angeles area, CA
- Apffels Coffee, Greater Los Angeles area, CA
- Intelligentsia Coffee, Greater Los Angeles area, CA
- Coffee Klatch, Greater Los Angeles area, CA
- Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Waterbury, VT
- Eight O’Clock Coffee, Montvale, NJ
- ECOM Trading, NYC
About AGP-AMDe
The Agricultural Growth Program – Agribusiness and Market Development (AGP-AMDe) is one of the flagship projects under USAID’s Feed the Future (FTF) Strategy for Ethiopia and is USAID’s contribution to the government of Ethiopia’s (GoE) Agricultural Growth Program (AGP).
AGP supports the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) framework by strengthening agricultural productivity and markets in the high productivity regions: Amhara, Oromia, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region (SNNPR) and Tigray.
AGP-AMDe contributes to four of the Ethiopian government’s strategic objectives: food self-sufficiency, economic growth, improving livelihoods of smallholder farmers and building agricultural capacity.
AGP-AMDe works to sustainably reduce poverty by improving the productivity and competitiveness of value chains that increase income for rural households. AGP-AMDe target value chains are sesame, coffee, honey, chickpeas, maize and wheat.
With the objective of enhancing the competitiveness of select value chains, AGP-AMDe provides technical assistance to increase productivity, enhance marketing and develop agribusiness support services.
AGP-AMDe assists in promoting and marketing of new and improved seed varieties through collaboration with research centers, seed enterprises, farmer cooperative unions (FCUs) and other stakeholders.
AGP-AMDe promotes international and domestic market linkages and development of value-added value chain products while building the capacity of FCUs and agro processors. Additionally, AGP-AMDe facilitates the improvement and development of additional support services such as access to finance and the enabling environment.
Lastly, AGP-AMDe has an innovation and demonstration fund which promotes investments in innovative approaches to value chain development and agricultural technologies
Source: Ethiopia Agricultural Growth Programme
