By Blessing Tamara
The PRESIDENT of Tanzania, Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, has said that Africa needs to restore its status in the coffee industry in the world.
In addition, she has urged African countries to come together to discuss the development of the crop and the African Union to include the coffee crop in the strategic crops, steps that are important in starting to restore Africa’s status in the coffee industry in the world.
President Dr. Samia said this today at the Third Conference of 25 African Coffee Producers in Dar es Salaam.
Dr. Samia has also said that despite the coffee industry facing various challenges, the African continent has started to take steps to deal with those challenges.
In addition, she has expressed her belief that the platform of Coffee Producing Countries in Africa will enable them to join forces in facing the challenges experienced in the coffee industry in Africa and come up with the right tool to achieve the goals they have set for themselves.
On the other hand, President Dr. Samia has asked African countries to resolve that by 2035, half of the coffee produced in Africa should be added value in Africa before being sold inside and outside the continent.
Elaborating on the benefits of the coffee crop, she said statistics show that more benefits of the crop are in the entire value chain than in production.
Thus, Africa needs to have more factories to process coffee and to make other products based on the remains of this crop.
“continuing to export raw coffee is to continue exporting youth jobs needed in Africa, depriving oneself of more income that is needed for the development of the African continent and making the coffee farmer continue to lack a reliable market for what he produces” President Dr. Samia said.
