Kenya stands to benefit economically and culturally by hosting the first G25 African Coffee Summit (ACS) in Nairobi from May 25 to 27, Principal Secretary State Department for Crops Development and Agriculture Research said.
According to PS Francis Owino, the summit would give Africa the leverage to address the challenges facing the African coffee sector under the auspices of the African Union to build a united and integrated Africa during a press briefing on the summit yesterday at Kilimo House.
The meeting, titled ‘Sustainable Development and Economic Growth in the African Coffee Sector,’ will bring together the heads of state and government from the 25 African coffee-producing countries to forge a consensus on integrating coffee as an anchor commodity in the African Union (AU) in line with Agenda 2063.
Coffee continues to be a major source of foreign exchange profits, a source of livelihood for an estimated 10 million people in Africa, and a source of direct and indirect investment, according to the PS.
“Coffee has contributed immensely to national GDPs and socio- economic development in areas such as rural infrastructure, education, health, employment and poverty eradication. It is also a major source of raw materials to the agro-processing industries and contributes to narrowing trade imbalances between Africa and her trading partners,” said Owino.
He went on to say that just 58,424 tons of clean coffee were shipped to 11 nations in the last five years, from 2016/17 to 2020/21.
Coffee continues to be a major source of foreign exchange profits, a source of livelihood for an estimated 10 million people in Africa, and a source of direct and indirect investment, according to the PS.
“By hosting the first ACS, President Uhuru Kenyatta shall have the opportunity to enumerate the gains of his legacy of restructuring coffee reforms agenda to empower the coffee farmer among others gains,” said the PS.
Kenya must also retake its rightful role as Africa’s centre of coffee research and technological hub of coffee trading by restoring its influence on the continent and providing regional intellectual strategic leadership.
The Summit, according to Amb. Solomon Rutega, Secretary General of the Inter African Coffee Organization (IACO), will help share knowledge on the impending threat of climate change on coffee as well as the ongoing global pandemic Covid-19, which has had a huge impact on the coffee sector from seed to cup.
“We expect that the outcome of the summit shall marshal consensus on a declaration of including coffee as an anchor commodity in the Africa Union (AU) in harmony with the Africa Agenda 2063,” said Rutega.
The Secretary General stated that including coffee into the African Union will go a long way toward unlocking much-needed resources for the resuscitation of Africa’s coffee sector, and he urged member states to join him in lobbying the AU to include coffee in its framework.
