The 4th African fine coffee conference and exhibition will be held in Ethiopia, which is the birthplace of coffee, on February 15-17, 2007, according to a newsletter from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

This is expected to be bigger than the previous three Conferences and up to 600 delegates are scheduled to participate.

The Ethiopian government and key stakeholders in the coffee industry in Ethiopia are finalizing preparations to ensure that the conference is successful, said the newsletter issued Saturday by the COMESA Secretariat based in Lusaka.

A major strategy in positioning African coffees in markets in the U.S., Europe and Asia is the hosting of the African fine coffee conference and exhibition under the auspices of the Eastern African Fine Coffees Association (EAFCA).

These conferences are growing both as major events in the international coffee calendar, but also as a rallying point for coffee players from within and outside the region to converge and address various aspects of coffee production and marketing.

The 3rd African conference and exhibition was held in Tanzania in February 2006.

EAFCA provides services to its members to improve the quality of their coffees. In this regard, EAFCA has been working with the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) based in Washington to provide training to members in such areas as cupping, milling and post- harvest management of coffee.

The aim is to build capacity at national chapter (country) level for these activities to be undertaken on a sustainable basis. COMESA's Regional Agricultural Trade Expansion Support (RATES) program which is funded by USAID has been providing support to EAFCA in this regard.

Source: Xinhua