
Earlier this year, during the 37th AU Summit in Addis Ababa, the continental body recognized coffee’s critical role in Africa‘s socio-economic transformation and its potential for sustainable development and adopted coffee as a strategic anchor commodity in the AU Agenda 2063.
Girma Amente, Ethiopia’s Minister of Agriculture and chair of the Inter-Africa Coffee Organization (IACO), hailed this decision as a historic milestone that marks a significant moment for the African continent’s coffee industry.
He emphasized that this recognition, along with the inclusion of IACO as a specialized AU agency, will be instrumental in transforming the African coffee sector through value addition.
“It is also an acknowledgment that only when we work as a continent, the leverage to address the challenges associated with the value addition will be overcome,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, AU Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Development, Josefa Sacko, echoed a similar sentiment, highlighting the decision as a pilot initiative for transforming other African products.
Africa produces 12% of the world’s coffee beans, with Ethiopia and Uganda accounting for a significant 62% of the continent’s distribution.
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