EIAR hosts Project Planning Workshop to Modernize Ethiopian Coffee Program
The Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) and World Coffee Research (WCR) collaborated to hold a workshop on June 12, 2023, at the Capital Hotel in Addis Ababa. The workshop’s goal was to modernize Ethiopia’s coffee breeding program, with an emphasis on enhancing the national approach to coffee breeding at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), which is part of the Jimma Agricultural Research Center (JARC). The workshop aimed to improve farmers’ access to outstanding coffee varieties by providing current tools and techniques for coffee breeding.
The program was officially opened by Dr. Adugna Debela, Director General of the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority. He underlined the need for collaboration between agricultural research and donors to foster the transfer of technologies in coffee breeding. In his remarks, Dr. Adugna emphasized the necessity of increasing the number and quality of human capital in the sector by improving their technical, theoretical, and practical skills. In addition to this, Dr. Taye Tadesse, Crop Director for EIAR, described the workshop’s major goal including bringing stakeholders and donors together to explore how to leverage their contributions for the reform of the coffee industry and breeding research system. He stressed the significance of instilling a feeling of ownership in coffee breeding, coffee germplasm, and coffee genetic source partners. The event also emphasized the need of considering coffee breeding research as a significant driver of agricultural growth in Ethiopia.
In the workshop, it was noted that EIAR and World Coffee Research (WCR) undertook independent assessments of Ethiopia’s coffee breeding program’s condition, capability, and infrastructure. Dr. Kraig Kraft, Asia & Africa Director at World Coffee Research, shared a worldwide industry perspective on coffee innovation. The event drew participants from a variety of stakeholders, including African countries, World Coffee Research, and national research institutions and centers.
