African Union Adopts Coffee As A Strategic Anchor Commodity In AU Agenda 2063

A press conference aimed at unveiling the outcome of the G25 Kampala Declaration and its subsequent adoption by the African Union was held on Thursday (August 1) at Eilily International Hotel in Addis Ababa.

The press conference was attended by high-ranking officials including Girma Amente, Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture and Chairman of the Inter-African Coffee Organization (IACO), Ambassador Josefa Sacko, AU’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment (ARBE), and Ambassador Solomon Rutega, Secretary General of IACO.

The initiative to elevate coffee to a strategic commodity commenced with the Kampala Declaration, a pivotal document arising from the G-25 Coffee Summit held on August 8, 2023, in Kampala, Uganda. The gathering, which convened under the theme of “Transforming African Coffee Sector through Value Addition,” adopted a Kampala Declaration, which was officially recognized during the 37th Session of the African Union Summit held in February 2024 in Addis Ababa.

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The declaration aspires to unlock Africa’s tremendous potential in coffee production through economic empowerment and competitiveness. Major objectives of the declaration include supporting research in coffee value addition to enable innovation and development of new products, generating new knowledge on best practices and improved technologies, and undertaking studies on the production of coffee through access to finance for coffee value addition projects, among others. Furthermore, the trade of coffee under the framework of the AfCFTA is a crucial component of the aforementioned declaration.

The aforementioned press conference was crucial to announce the outcome of the G25 Kampala Declaration which was adopted by the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and governments. The declaration includes a proposal to elevate coffee as a strategic commodity in AU Agenda 2063. It also includes the recommendation to designate the Inter-African Coffee Organization (IACO) as a specialized agency of the African Union.

During the media briefing, IACO Chairman Girma Amente stressed that the decision to adopt coffee as a strategic anchor commodity and the inclusion of the Inter-Africa Coffee Organization (IACO) as a specialized agency of the African Union is a historic milestone. He further noted that Ethiopia is the only country in sub-Saharan Africa with a per capita consumption of coffee of about 2/3 kg per person.

AU Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Development (ARBE) Commissioner Josefa Sacko, on her part, underscored the need to transform products in the continent as the recent decision is a pilot initiative for other products in Africa. The Commissioner hailed Ethiopia as the home and backbone of Coffee Arabica.

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IACO Secretary General, Ambassador Solomon S. Rutega, emphasized that the vision to transform the African coffee sector through value addition needs political commitment for the sector. He noted that coffee is the second-largest commodity in the world next to oil.

While Africa is a birthplace of coffee and makes up 12 percent of the overall global production of coffee beans, the sector is still hampered by low productivity and production, inequality in the coffee value chain, loss of economic benefits associated with low consumption, and the adverse impact of climate change. For instance, Ethiopia exports 99% of its coffee without adding value depending on the demand of the importing countries.

Therefore, the adoption of coffee as a strategic anchor commodity and designation of the Inter-African Coffee Organization (IACO) with the broader objective of transforming the coffee sector on the continent is expected to positively impact the lives of millions of households dependent on the sector.