The G25 coffee summit was held in Kampala between August 7 and 10. Here is what leaders said:
By Joshua Kato
President Yoweri Museveni A kilogramme of good quality coffee beans may go for $2.5 (sh9,000) per kg. The same quantity of coffee roasted, ground and packaged may go for $40 (sh145,000).
This is where there is massive haemorrhage of money from the global South to the global North. It is not only the loss of money per kilogramme, it is also the loss of jobs.
If you take the whole spectrum of raw materials from agriculture, minerals, forest products, etc., the loss to Africa is massive.
Ethiopia’s president, Sahle-Work Zewde
The food farmers sweat to produce the best quality coffee to the international market, but it is the traders who decide the international coffee price in the absence of the producers or the rightful representation.
The very producers are price takers and remain at the receiving end throughout the market chain. We all must work together to end this market unfairness.
Tanzania’s vice-president, Dr Philip Isdor Mpango
It is timely that we have the G-25 Africa Coffee Summit and I want to underscore that we should use this platform to unanimously push for a declaration of coffee as a strategic commodity in harmony with the African Union Agenda2063 — promote value-addition, agree on how to expand the original coffee trade and discuss remedial measures to underline risks to this important cash crop.
Ethiopia’s agriculture minister and chairman of Inter-Africa Coffee Organisation, Dr Girma Amente
For centuries, coffee has been a source of inspiration, a catalyst for conversation and a symbol of hospitality. Moreover, it has been a valuable economic commodity that supports the lives of millions of people on our continent.
On inequality gap in the coffee value chain, one of the reasons for the inequality is that 99% of the value chain of the coffee produced by Africa is being captured abroad.
Africa is operating at the lower end of the supply chain. This is due to lack of investment in the processing plants, technology and low level of coffee consumption, among others.
Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary, Musalia Mudavadi
Coffee is a major source of employment, poverty alleviation, food security, foreign exchange and generally contributes to the lives of many Kenyans. It is estimated to directly and indirectly employ over five million Kenyans along the coffee value chain.
