Ethiopia
The government of Ethiopia has taken steps in coffee sector to gain place in the world market and increase international trade. Before 2,000 years ago the agriculture started in Ethiopia. And that time Arabica coffee grew in the forest of the Kaffa and Buno. Ethiopia is considered the origin of Arabica coffee of plant.
Ethiopia is the oldest exporter of coffee but due to the irregular atmosphere of the country this has negative effect on the history of export. In the 19th century specialty coffee was exported to London, Marseilles, New York and Trieste. The classification and grading of coffee of Ethiopia was developed for the first time in 1952 and later on changes was made to them in 1955. National Coffee Board of Ethiopia was also established in 1957 with the aim to control and coordinate producers, traders, and to improve the quality of Ethiopian coffee. In 1960, Ethiopia became a member of the inter-African coffee organization and after became a member of international coffee organization and got 2.5% share of the global market.
The economy of the Ethiopia depends on agriculture to a great extent and Arabica coffee is the main of the agriculture product because it contributes about 60% of the country’s foreign exchange earnings. It is the main source of the employment for the people of Ethiopia.
Ethiopia has very suitable atmosphere for the growth of coffee. The climate, soil and temperature of the Ethiopia are very appropriate for coffee. Ethiopia has prominent place in the world in coffee sector because it is the origin of the Arabica coffee. The total production area of the coffee in Ethiopia is about 400,000 hectares and produces 200,000 tones of clean coffee per annum.
The planting material of Ethiopia are disease resistant, high yielding and of top quality. The soil is volcanic origin with the capacity of holding high nutrient for clay minerals. Four type of production are in Ethiopia, which are forest coffee, semi-forest coffee, garden coffee and plantation coffee. Forest coffee is grown in south-western Ethiopia and this area is the origin of Arabica coffee. Forest coffee contributes about 10%of the total coffee production. Semi-forest coffee is also grown in the forest land and the coffee contributes about 35% of the total production. Garden coffee is planted in less dense forest and ranging from 1,000 to 1,800 trees per hectare and the production of this coffee is 35% of the total production. Plantation coffee is planted in small farms and special care should be taken for the growth of coffee. Plantation coffee contributes about 5% of the total production of the country.
In Ethiopia wet-processed is done because Ethiopia is famous for its high quality wet-processed. These plants can produce 52,000 tones per annum. There is a well structure of wet-processed in Ethiopia and special training is given to the operators before the start of wet-processing operations and under strict supervision high quality of coffee is produced.
