Ethiopia to boost coffee exports

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Feb 15: Ethiopia, Africa's biggest coffee exporter, plans to increase exports by about a third this year and will encourage foreign participation in the industry to help expand production.

The Horn of Africa nation aims to ship 220,000 metric tonne of beans in the year to June 30, 2008, Solomon Tilahun, an export-promotion official at Ethiopia's Agriculture Ministry, said in an interview today at an industry conference in Kampala, Uganda. That compares with 170,000 tons exported a year earlier.

"In five years we plan to increase production by 15%," Tilahun said.

Ethiopia, where the arabica variety of coffee originated, relies on the crop for 60% of its foreign exchange earnings. About four-fifths of its production of 450,000 tonne comes from small-scale farmers, with large estates accounting for the rest.

"We plan to increase the productivity of small-holders by offering farmers training and advice," Tilahun said. Incentives include export-tax relief and a suspension of leasing costs for between five and seven years, depending on the amount of capital invested, said Hailu Dejene, an official from Oromia state's Agricultural Marketing Agency.