How Ethiopia Boosted its Coffee Exports Last Year

In the Ethiopian calendar year 2014 (2021/22), Ethiopian coffee exports reached an all-time high, generating 1.4 billion U.S. dollars in revenue through sales of 300,000 metric tons of coffee during the last 12 months.  

Compared with an average coffee export yearly earnings, the country generated an additional 500 million U.S. dollars, according to the Ministry of Agriculture,

The success has been attributed, as per Precise Consult, to:

• Growing volumes
• Shortened supply chain, which is primarily due to vertical integration, a new market scheme connecting producers or suppliers to exporters. It cut out the auction platform at the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange and other irrelevant processes.
• Focus on specialty coffee, which has more extraordinary value than commercial coffee due to its high quality
• A growing potential in China’s booming coffee market as China has become one of the largest importers of Ethiopian coffee. Digital platforms have been used to sell Ethiopian coffee in China, which has proved successful.

With regard to future prospects, the price of coffee is expected to rise internationally due to the limited output of coffee in Brazil. Low farm cost and climate give Ethiopia a competitive advantage over other coffee-producing countries. To capitalize on the global demand for coffee, authorities are attempting to increase coffee productivity in regions where it is produced in significant quantities and to expand coffee plantations in areas where farmers are not used to the cash crop.

Further, the Ethiopian coffee and tea authority introduced a comprehensive Ethiopian coffee strategy in 2014 E.C. The strategy seeks to maximize Ethiopia’s coffee export earnings while boosting value chain incomes, particularly for millions of smallholder farmers who account for more than 85 percent of production.

Source: Precise Consult