Fairtrade Africa focuses on Ethiopia in a $ 1.28 million climate resilience project

Fairtrade Africa has launched the third phase of a 1.1 million euros ($ 1.28 million) project to improve the resilience of small coffee producers to climate change.

The phases of the Climate Academy Project, funded by the Dutch Postal Code Lottery, are already being implemented in Kericho and Nandi counties in Kenya, while the Ethiopian phase will involve six primary producer groups from the United States. Cooperative Union of Oromia Coffee Producers (OCFCU); Although the Fairtrade model implies a minimum price for producers meeting the certification standards – which promote organizational development and sustainability – the group said more support is needed for coffee producers to cope with the effects. multiform climate change, according to a Fairtrade Africa announcement this week.

A 201 7 report from Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew UK and Ethiopian scientists concluded that with a marginal increase in climate over this century, 59 percent of current coffeelands in the United Ethiopia could become unfit for the growth of arabica. At the time, the group said that a "usual approach" to coffee production in Ethiopia could be catastrophic for the sector.

Ethiopia is the genetic cradle of coffee, and the harvest remains vital to the Ethiopian economy and culture. According to Fairtrade Africa, the 2016-17 coffee production year has generated more than $ 860 million in export revenue, and coffee remains the country's most valuable export.

Implemented by partners such as Fairtrade International and Max Havelaar Foundation (Fairtrade) The Climate Academy Project has several key objectives, including: providing institutional and management capacity to farmers, especially smallholder farmers; climate change through sustainable land management practices, promoting changes to renewable energy, increasing opportunities for farmers to diversify and engage in other income-generating activities, and badisting # 39; elaboration of a "Climate Academy Guide" to help other producer organizations to go forward.