Coffee experts from the region and beyond have come together in Kigali for a research symposium themed “Research and Extension as a drive to enhancing coffee quality and alleviating the potato taste defect in the East Africa”.
The two-day symposium was officially opened by the Minister of Agriculture and Animal resources, Dr Agnes Kalibata, at Lemigo hotel in Kigali on the 17th March 2014.
The conference was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) together with the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB), Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) and in partnership with, Rwanda Development Board (RDB), University of Rwanda, Global Knowledge Initiative and Rogers family coffee company.
Hon. Dr Agnes Kalibata told the participants that it is not by accident that they all met in Kigali. The Antestia bug is suspected to be responsible of the potato taste defect (PTD) in coffee; thus the disease has no boundaries. The minister urged the participants to try and identify the really cause of the potato taste defect.
Amb. George William Kayonga, the Director General of NAEB, thanked everyone for honoring the invitation and said the symposium is going to be the learning opportunity for the participants about the PTD and the possible solutions to eradicate it.
The main aim of the symposium was to find the possible solutions for PTD that affects the quality of Rwandan coffee since Rwanda’s competitiveness on international market is by exporting the good quality of fully washed coffee.
And this can be achieved by identifying partners interested in working towards alleviating the problem in coffee, establishing knowledge and information sharing platform on research on PTD, initiating the development of projects for controlling PTD and mobilizing resources for research and extension activities to control PTD and other defects in coffee, it has been established.
Participants to the symposium come from different countries including Kenya, Burundi, DR Congo, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States of America.
