By Ignatius Bahizi
KAMPALA [UGANDA]- Africa is the birthplace of the two main varieties of coffee consumed in the world, but it is still grown by only 25 African countries on a commercial basis. In some of the countries, it is the primary source of export revenues. Millions of other farmers across the continent grow it on a small scale, but the chain of beneficiaries is wider.
Coffee-producing countries want the African Union (AU) to endorse the cash crop as a strategic commodity on the AU agenda 2063. This means giving it priority in trade, marketing, promotion, and research according to the Inter-African Coffee Organization.
At a recent G-25 African coffee summit that was held in Kampala, Tanzania Vice President Dr. Philip Isdor Mpango pushed for a policy to promote coffee at the continental level given its importance to most Africans, as this would promote value addition and expansion of the market.
The two main varieties of coffee popular in the world-coffee Arabica, and Robusta originated from Ethiopia and Uganda respectively, and the two countries remain the continent’s top producers.
However, Africa as a whole, which produces 12% of the total coffee in the world earns the least amount of the market share compared to countries like Germany that do not produce coffee at all, but only add value to what Africa, and other producers export as raw material, then it is re-exported back to them as a finished product.
It is from this background that African coffee-producing countries thought of working out a strategy on how coffee can be processed on the continent before it is exported.
WHAT IS AFRICA’S SHARE OF THE COFFEE MARKET?
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni explained to the gathering in Kampala that out of the 460 billion dollars market in value of coffee in the world, Africa gets only 2.4 billion dollars, less than Germany’s over 6 billion, yet Germany only adds value.
The vast disparity in incomes generated from coffee according to Museveni is because 99% of African coffee is exported in raw form resulting in the loss of economic benefits associated with value addition like jobs.
‘’A kilogram of bean coffee of good quality may go for US$2.5 per kilogram. The same quantity of coffee roasted, ground, and packaged may go for US$40. This is where there is a massive loss of money from the global South to the global North. It is not only the loss of money per kilogram, it is also the loss of jobs at every stage of value addition. If you take the whole spectrum of raw materials from agriculture, minerals, forest products, and others, the loss to Africa is massive.” Museveni said.
WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS TO THIS REVENUE LOSS?
Coffee-producing countries in Africa want the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to create a single African market that facilitates the 25 African coffee producers to trade freely with other African Union member countries, promote local coffee consumption, jointly invest in research and development of varieties which are resilient to harsher climatic conditions, pests, and diseases as well as value addition.
Heads of State and Governments of the 25 African Coffee Producing Countries, who gathered in Kampala in early August for the second edition of the G25 Africa Coffee Summit, agreed on a roadmap to transforming the African Coffee Sector.
However, Uganda’s leader advised that there was a need for each country that produces and exports raw materials to conduct internal struggles of adding value to them before export to earn more from their sweat and create more jobs for their youth, instead of them dying in the Mediterranean Sea going to Europe to seek for jobs. He also argued investors in coffee to come and set up processing factories on the continent, describing the current market system in the world as imperialistic and parasitic.
All leaders decried the huge inequality gaps in the coffee value chain mainly due to weak bargaining power, a fact that calls for solidarity and commitment among coffee-producing countries in pursuing building a more significant bargaining voice, value addition, and promoting local consumption.
INCREASE PRODUCTION
The amount of coffee being produced on the African continent is expected to grow following improved research on best farming practices, and most countries have doubled the scale of production by facilitating farmers with inputs like improved seeds, cheap fertilizers, and exposure to better farming methods. Eastern African countries have reported an increase in production and millions of their farmers benefiting along the entire coffee value chain.
Many other governments are investing heavily in the sector by providing farming inputs, cheap credit, and agriculture advice to farmers. Farmers are expanding the acreage of their farms, and more people are being attracted to coffee farming activities.
This gives hope that the percentage share of coffee produced from Africa is likely to double in a few years ahead to come close to big producers in South America like Brazil. However, there is fear of the effects of changing climatic conditions, which might as well affect production.
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