Memorandum To: Tefera Deribew, Ethiopian Agricultural Minister From: Josh Cisney, Development Economist in Training Date: Feb. 1st, 2014 Subject: Ethiopian Export Policy - Coffee ----------------------------------------------------------------- As the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia has a proud history of exporting some of the world’s finest beans and roasts to fuel the world’s caffeine addiction. It is not surprising then that coffee is big business in Ethiopia where it makes up approximately 10% of its annual GDP and is its largest export (UNECA, 2013). On a world scale, Ethiopia produces around 2% of the total coffee harvest (Export Strategy, 2001). Since Coffee plays such an important role in Ethiopia’s economy, it is often at the whims of both international commodity markets and national weather fronts. This means that a severe drought or good coffee harvest in another region of the world can have devastating impacts on Ethiopia that ripples across all sectors. In order to help stabilize prices and make the coffee harvest more sustainable for Ethiopia, I recommend implementing strategies to do the following. First, ensuring that adequate crop insurance programs are in place and accessible to the poor would help farmers through difficult production years. Second, programs introducing best practices in both agricultural policy and farming techniques will help the coffee growers expound upon their current business models through education and training (Export Strategy, 2001) (USAID, 2012). Third, expanding the capacity to market and export more Ethiopian coffee under fair trade or similar programs can increase visibility and provide higher payments to the farmers. Fourth, growing Ethiopia’s Agricultural Growth Plan will improve the competitiveness of the country as a whole while bringing more income and job opportunities to the country’s farmers. Sources Cited Economic Report on Africa. (2013). United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Retrieved January 31st, 2014 from uneca.org/sites/default/files/uploaded-documents/era2013_casestudy_eng_ethiopia.pdf Feed the Future: Ethiopia. (2012). USAID. Retrieved January 31st, 2014 from usaid.gov/ethiopia/agriculture-and-food-security/feed-future Rethinking Export Strategy: Ethiopia. (2001). Presentation PDF from the Regional Executive Forum on National Export Strategies, Nairobi, Kenya: Nov. 26-28, 2011.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 01:55:25 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015