Synopsis: Coffee value chains on the move: Evidence from smallholder coffee farmers in Ethiopia

Minten, Bart; Dereje, Mekdim; Engeda, Ermias; Kuma, Tadesse. 2015. Synopsis: Coffee value chains on the move: Evidence from smallholder coffee farmers in Ethiopia. ESSP II Research Note 41. Washington, DC and Addis Ababa, International Food Policy Research Institute and Ethiopia: Ethiopian Development Research Institute (EDRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150265

Important changes to Ethiopia’s coffee sector have occurred in the last decade. The adoption of improved production, harvest, and post-harvest practices has been increasing with positive impacts on coffee productivity and incomes. Upstream marketing has improved, along with large investments in processing capacity, shown by the extended coverage of wet mills. These changes seem to have been driven by greater availability of extension agents, market reform, and high international prices. However, despite these changes, yield growth has been small. Weather shocks, the prevalence of coffee diseases, lack of improved seedlings, and saving constraints has impeded uptake of improved practices, with consequent repercussions on farmers’ productivity and income.