(04 October 2011, The Guardian)--A lack of rain has led some farmers to rip out their entire crop, according to one charity, but experts disagree.
Coffee production in some parts of southern Ethiopia has come to a halt because of a lack of rain, according to a British NGO, although some coffee experts predict a bumper crop this year. Plan UK is reporting that some coffee farmers have been forced to rip out their entire crop because of drought.
"We had too much rain continuing for three to four months, and this year we have had a long dry period so now we're worried about the future," said Mulugeta Tafa, a manager with children's NGO Plan UK, in Ethiopia.
Tafa said five areas in the south, including Gedio – where some of Ethiopia's highest quality coffee is produced – are struggling. "Coffee production is grinding to a halt in some parts of southern Ethiopia, due to a serious lack of rain," said Sarah Mace, disaster risk management specialist at Plan UK, who has just returned from the country.
"Some coffee farmers have been forced to rip out their entire crop because of the devastating impact of the weather. Many have watched their plants shrivel up and die before their eyes," she said.
Ethiopia is the world's seventh largest and Africa's top coffee producer. The value of Ethiopia's coffee exports for 2009 was $316.7m (£202m), according to the International Coffee Organisation (ICO), the main intergovernmental body for coffee.
Coffee accounts for 1.1% of Ethiopia's GDP and is its largest source of foreign exchange, so any setback to coffee production has serious implications for the economy. Ethiopia has a GDP per capita of $358.
But Heleanna Georgalis, general manager of Moplaco, a coffee exporter based in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, expressed surprise at Plan's reports of problems with this year's coffee crop.
"In fact, the crop this year is going to be a huge one, one of the biggest the country has seen. However, it will mature a bit late since the rain has not stopped yet, so the berries have not had the time to ripen," she said. Read more from The Guardian »
Coffee production in some parts of southern Ethiopia has come to a halt because of a lack of rain, according to a British NGO, although some coffee experts predict a bumper crop this year. Plan UK is reporting that some coffee farmers have been forced to rip out their entire crop because of drought.
"We had too much rain continuing for three to four months, and this year we have had a long dry period so now we're worried about the future," said Mulugeta Tafa, a manager with children's NGO Plan UK, in Ethiopia.
Tafa said five areas in the south, including Gedio – where some of Ethiopia's highest quality coffee is produced – are struggling. "Coffee production is grinding to a halt in some parts of southern Ethiopia, due to a serious lack of rain," said Sarah Mace, disaster risk management specialist at Plan UK, who has just returned from the country.
"Some coffee farmers have been forced to rip out their entire crop because of the devastating impact of the weather. Many have watched their plants shrivel up and die before their eyes," she said.
Ethiopia is the world's seventh largest and Africa's top coffee producer. The value of Ethiopia's coffee exports for 2009 was $316.7m (£202m), according to the International Coffee Organisation (ICO), the main intergovernmental body for coffee.
Coffee accounts for 1.1% of Ethiopia's GDP and is its largest source of foreign exchange, so any setback to coffee production has serious implications for the economy. Ethiopia has a GDP per capita of $358.
But Heleanna Georgalis, general manager of Moplaco, a coffee exporter based in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, expressed surprise at Plan's reports of problems with this year's coffee crop.
"In fact, the crop this year is going to be a huge one, one of the biggest the country has seen. However, it will mature a bit late since the rain has not stopped yet, so the berries have not had the time to ripen," she said. Read more from The Guardian »
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