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ETHIOPIA HAS RECORD YEAR FOR EXPORT DESPITE UNCERTAINTY

Ethiopia’s coffee growers are expecting another record year for exports despite the ongoing political crisis in the country. Africa’s biggest coffee producer is also gaining from other events that affect major coffee-growing countries worldwide.

The nation exported 250,000 tons, earning a record $910 million, in the marketing year that ended on the 31st of July. For the current fiscal year, forecasts predict the production of  280,000 tons.

Just in the span of three months through October this year, the nation has already exported 86,000 tons of coffee, which made $327.9 million. According to the Ethiopia Tea and Coffee Authority, this is 77% more than the projected amount. 

Currently, Ethiopia is in the middle of a deteriorating political crisis, that has been going on since November 2020, with central government forces fighting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Yet, coffee exports have not been as badly affected as some observers expected. On top of that, the six-month state of emergency recently declared by the government has been confined to areas outside of major coffee-growing regions.

According to the director-general of the tea and coffee authority Adugna Debela:

There is no problem in Djibouti port and the Addis Ababa-Djibouti road is working peacefully; so the way we measure it is in our daily volumes.

Ethiopia is additionally benefiting from other events in the industry, including the rise of shipping costs in Asia, as well as weather-related incidents in Brazil and Colombia, in particular, that have pushed prices to levels unseen in years.

Author

  • Azra Syakirah

    organisation:

    Azra Syakirah spends much of her time travelling asia, photographing and writing about cafe's and coffee experiences. She has lived in Malaysia, Singapore, and more recently Japan, where she resides in the capital, Tokyo.

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