By Aaron Maasho ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia plans to increase coffee exports by a third by the end of the 2013/2014 fiscal year to help counter a fall in revenues due to lower coffee prices, the head of its coffee exporters association said on Monday. Coffee exports from Africa's biggest producer hit a record high of 198,706 tonnes in 2012/13 but earnings of $744.9 million were lower than 2011/12, when sales of 169,391 tonnes earned Ethiopia $833.1 million. The World Bank says international prices for coffee declined by about a third between the two periods. The slide in coffee exports weighed on overall export earnings, which slipped to $3 billion in 2012/2013 from $3.15 billion a year before. Four million smallholder farmers grow coffee in the misty forested highlands in the west and southwest of the country.

Source: Ethiopian News May 18, 2024 23:12 UTC