ADDIS ABABA — Fintrac has been working through two dozen lead coffee clients, primarily cooperatives and millers, to increase sales and incomes of 18,000 smallholders in six Ethiopian growing regions. In the ten months that the USAID-funded Agribusiness and Trade Expansion Activity (ATEA) has been operational, training was provided in proper harvesting, washing, fermentation, drying and storage; five cupping labs were established at partner cooperatives to strengthen grading; and new varieties were identified. An inward buyers’ mission with thirteen participants (from the US, EU, and Japan) toured production areas in Jimma, Kaffa, Bench Maji and Teppi. The project further supported the East Africa Fine Coffee Association (EAFCA) during the African Fine Coffee Conference and Exhibition, which was held for the first time in Addis Ababa. The February event attracted more than 150 international coffee buyers and featured an open outcry auction and barista competition. Boot Coffee Consulting and Training and the Coffee Quality Institute have been instrumental in working with the Fintrac field team to improve client performance and alliance partners such as the Seattle-based Dominion Trading Co..

Coffee is one of the four sectors Fintrac is targeting through the project. The other sectors are horticulture; hides, skins and leather (HSL); and oilseeds and pulses. Combined exports in the coffee, horticulture and HSL sectors increased by $9.8 million in the last quarter of 2006 over 2005.