The first Coffee Training Center inaugurated in Ethiopia

The Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority (ECTA), illycaffè, Ernesto Illy Foundation and UNIDO have inaugurated the first Coffee Training Center (CTC) in Ethiopia. The Center was realized in the framework of the UNIDO project “Improving the sustainability and inclusiveness of the Ethiopian coffee value chain through Private and Public Partnership”, financed by the Italian Development Cooperation and developed in partnership with illycaffè and Ernesto Illy Foundation. 

Coffee plays a key role in the socio-economic development of Ethiopia, where Coffea Arabica also originates, is a top export commodity, a foreign currency generator, as well as a sector that allows millions of households to be sustained. In this context, the CTC has been designed with the intent to foster knowledge sharing, innovation and strong competencies in the Ethiopian coffee sector.

The Centre, located within the national leading institution for the coffee sector, ECTA, is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and includes brewing, roasting and sensory laboratories, as well as with a cafeteria. The main objective of the CTC is to enable a wide range of services, supplying professionals with international standard knowledge and skillsets. These include coffee post-harvest activities, particularly with a focus on coffee processing, cupping and grading, roasting, grinding, brewing, packaging and marketing. Subsequently, it provides a physical platform for national and international public and private stakeholders to meet, promote services, train operators and further foster public-private partnership initiatives. 

The project has been designed with the support, guidance and international experience of illycaffè, Ernesto illy Foundation and the University of Coffee of Trieste (Italy), all of which have contributed to capacitate a number of Ethiopian coffee experts, by organizing trainings, visits and provision of scholarships.

For further information contact Andrea De Marco (A.demarco [at] unido.org (A[dot]demarco[at]unido[dot]org))

Watch welcoming speech by Ernesto Illy, Illycaffè and Fondazione here.

Visit the website of the Coffee Training Center here.