Ghana’s indigenous coffee variety, Robusta Coffee is taking the spotlight in the 2024 Ghana Coffee Week celebration.
The celebration, stakeholders say will be used as one of the major platforms to market the high-quality Ghana Robusta Coffee to the global coffee market. The local coffee, experts say is rich in flavour and has higher caffeine content compared to other species of coffee.
The celebration will also be used as leverage to bring global attention to the local coffee which is expected to play a crucial role in contributing to the economic growth and development of the country while enhancing agricultural diversity.
The 2024 edition of the event is under the theme “Boosting Ghana’s Coffee Sector for Sustainable Economic Growth. The celebration is expected to bring together officials of government, industry players, international partners, coffee lovers, etc. to discuss issues affecting the coffee sector and explore the potential of improving the local coffee market.
At the launch of the weeklong celebration on Monday, October 21, 2022, at Alisa Hotel, National Programme Coordinator for ITC Alliances for Action, Larry Attipoe reiterated that the series of events will throw the spotlight on the evolving coffee sector and its socio-economic potential.
“The significance of what we are doing today is that we are drawing attention to an important evolving strategic sector of our economy. I say evolving because a few years ago, the government made a bold declaration to elevate coffee to a higher status than it is at the moment and gives some very ambitious targets to stimulate all of us to work together to as it were through the industry give us ourselves another very important crop of strategy in the Global Market,” he said.
Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of COCOBOD in charge of Quality Control, Dr. Ebenezer Owusu touted the potential of the coffee industry in creating prosperous and sustainable livelihoods for farmers.
In view of this, he mentioned that COCOBOD is committed to promoting and enhancing the production of coffee through scientific research, grading, and certification. He said the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana is focused on “developing high-yielding varieties, disease and pest control, and market dynamics.”
European Union Delegation (EUD) Head of Cooperation, Mr. Massimo Mina in his remarks at the launch indicated that the celebration is an an excellent opportunity to foster collaborations, enhance value-added products, promote sustainable practices, and increase local coffee consumption.
He also emphasized the economic significance of coffee globally, noting that 2.7 million tonnes of coffee imported by the EU in 2023 were valued at 10.6 billion Euros.
Samuel Adimado, Vice President of the Coffee Federation Ghana, affirmed the Federation’s ongoing commitment to supporting the growth of the local coffee industry, helping partners identify those in need of financial assistance to grow their businesses.
The Ghana Coffee Week Celebration began on Monday, October 21, 2024, and it is expected to be marked with a series of activities throughout the week.
