Ethiopia has launched a comprehensive coffee development strategy to boost the country's coffee production and export earnings, Ethiopian News Agency said On June 30.
 
Coffee is the main source of livelihood for some 15 million Ethiopians and is one of the country's main foreign exchange earning exports. Ethiopia is Africa's largest coffee exporter, accounting for 95 % of the continent's organic coffee production.
 
The goal of the strategy is to move up the value chain of the industry, improve Ethiopia's ability to earn foreign exchange in coffee exports and increase the income of millions of coffee growers, said Shafi, deputy director of Ethiopia's Coffee and Tea Administration. Annual coffee production is expected to increase from 70,000 tons in 2019 to 1.26 million tons by 2033, with export earnings rising to $3.6 billion-$4.6 billion and annual farmers' incomes rising from $468 million in 2019 to $2.7 billion-$3.5 billion.

Ethiopia's coffee development strategy was originally scheduled to be launched in 2019, but has not been implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Shafie, the strategy is divided into six parts, each corresponding to the coffee industry value chain, namely research, production and promotion, value added, processing, marketing and industry construction, to create jobs for at least 2.7 million people by expanding coffee production, processing and distribution.