The Ethiopian government presented a new national strategy at the end of June aimed at strengthening coffee farming, with the goal of significantly increasing production and achieving US$6 billion in annual export revenue from the commodity within the next five years. In the last Ethiopian commercial year, coffee exports exceeded US$3 billion in revenue for the first time in history, easily surpassing the previous fiscal year's record of US$2.65 billion. The plan was announced by the Minister of Agriculture, Addisu Arega, and the Director-General of the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority, Adugna Debela. Among the main objectives is increasing the average productivity of coffee plantations from the current 9 quintals per hectare to 21 quintals per hectare. With this initiative, the country intends to reduce the gap with the world's leading coffee producers. Currently, Brazil and Vietnam register productivity between 25 and 27 quintals per hectare, above the global average, estimated at 15 quintals. According to the Ethiopian government, one of the pillars of the strategy will be strengthening agricultural research. The program envisions the development and multiplication of new hybrid coffee varieties with greater yield potential, disease resistance, and adaptation to climate change. To this end, a tissue culture center is under construction at the Jimma Agricultural Research Center, which will support seedling production. The launch of the initiative brought together representatives from federal and regional governments, researchers, industry associations, producers, exporters, and other members of the production chain, in a joint effort to modernize Ethiopia's main agricultural commodity and expand its share of the international market.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.