Plan in East Africa to improve coffee standards
Africa is world renowned for its production of coffee. Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, amongst other countries regularly export coffee to the world. However, as reported in the Zambia Daily Mail, there are plans afoot to train more than six thousand coffee farmers to improve the standards of certain aspects of the coffee production process.
The organisation to get involved with this training programme is the Eastern African Fine Coffees Association. It is said that they are seeking to concentrate on the certification process and also the standards in verifying coffee.
Which African countries are to get involved with the scheme? Apparently there are nine countries currently involved, including Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda and Zimbabwe, as well as the other main coffee-producing African countries, such as Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.
The result of the programme is to boost levels of productivity and also the quality of the product. It is also hoped that the market will have a better access to coffee as a result of the training.
According to the project manager, Mr Sandando, the programme has the blessing of several international institutions. Over the five year life of the project, the East African Fine Coffees Association is to be funded by the EU, Common Fund for Commodities and International Coffee Organisation.
No doubt this will be a boost to the coffee industry in the East of the continent. Coffee is often an important part of national economies, as well as a product which is enjoyed the world over. Hopefully the fruits of the training programme will benefit both.