Adopt climate-smart measures to improve coffee production – Deputy COCOBOD CEO

A deputy Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) in charge of Agronomy and Quality control, Dr. Emmanuel Dwomoh, has urged farmers in the production of coffee in the African continent to adopt Climate-Smart options in their day-to-day farming practices in order to boost their yield so as to increase production.

For instance, he said farmers could adopt a system where they will plant some shade trees along the coffee plant to provide it with shade so as to save the coffee trees from being exposed to the vagaries of the harsh weather conditions.

He said lessons learnt from the production of cocoa should always serve as guide for players in the coffee sector to boost their yield.

“Sustainability is the watchword now. We need to ensure sustainability in every aspect of the coffee industry. We have to find climate-smart options to our bean production and processing such that we can comfortably handle huge tonnages without destroying the environment”, he noted.

Dr. Dwomoh made this observation when addressing the 7th General Assembly and 5th Scientific Colloquium of the Agency of Coffee Robusta of Africa and Madagascar (ACRAM) in Accra on Wednesday, May 22, 2019.

Dr. Dwomoh further urged players in the coffee business to commit themselves to research, believing that will help generate improved results for the sector.

He told the General Assembly that it was about time those in the coffee sector team up to fight the growing threat of plant diseases in order of safeguard their investment.

The President of ACRAM, Monsieur Enselme Gouthon, commenting on the event, called on stakeholders to adopt sustainable farming practices as well as focus on gender issues to help develop the coffee industry.

That notwithstanding, he called for specific efforts to be made for the youth in order to get them attracted to the production of coffee.

He said his office together with the industry experts, are working assiduously to develop and highlight prospects for coffee production within producing countries to enable them draw lessons and challenges associated with coffee production in the continent.

The President of the Coffee Federation of Ghana, Chief Nat Ebo Nsarko, on his part, said Africa produces only 10 percent of world’s coffee with Ethiopia alone producing 4.3 percent.

This, he noted, presents a lot of opportunities in the coffee business and therefore urged players in the industry to leverage on those opportunities “so that Africa is not left behind”.