The EU-Coffee Action for Ethiopia (EU-CAFE), launched by the European Union (EU), is a €15 million project which will help Ethiopian smallholder coffee farmers boost the yields and quality of their coffee crops through better seeds and farming techniques.
ADDIS ABABA–On 26 February, the European Union’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, Mr Johan Borgstam, and the EU Head of Cooperation, Mr Erik Habers, visited Manna Woreda near Jimma, the heartland of Ethiopian coffee farming.
Accompanied by EU coffee specialist Dr. Eshetu Mulatu, this field mission is preparing the launch of the EU-Coffee Action for Ethiopia (EU-CafE), a 450 million ETB (€15m) project which will help Ethiopian smallholder farmers …boost the yields and quality of their coffee crops through better seeds and farming techniques. In combination with improvements in marketing, this will allow coffee farmers and processors – many of them rural women and youth – to improve their living conditions.
Coffee is extremely important to Ethiopia, as the land of origin of Arabica. Approximately twenty million Ethiopians make a living from coffee, from farmers to roasters to baristas and exporters. Green coffee beans are Ethiopia’s main export, generating up to €750 million in hard currency each year.
Grown under forest canopies, Ethiopian Arabica is considered among the best in the world and sought after by coffee aficionados everywhere. In spite of this, Ethiopian growers could still command a higher price for their coffee. Building on forty years of support to the sector, the European Union stands ready to help Ethiopian coffee farmers improve their fortunes in the years to come.
In related news, a Federal Justice and Legal Research & Training Institute built in Addis Ababa by the European Union Commission with 3.3 million Euros was inaugurated on 28 February.
Mrs Meaza Ashenafi, President of the Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia, Ambassador Johan Borgstam, Head of the European Union Delegation to Ethiopia, Dr. Eyob Tekalign, State Minister of Finance, attended the event, Fana Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) reported.
The 10,000 square meter Institute is vital to offer training to justice sector officials from all over the country.
The European Union is Ethiopia’s reliable development partner in the areas of road, health, education, water supply, food security, trade, agriculture, natural resource, gender, and justice.
Source: Delegation of the European Union to Ethiopia & FBC