29/05/2026
Spanish Cooperation Delegation Visits ECTA’s New Coffee interpretation center and Coffee Training Center, Highlighting Strides in Coffee History, Climate Resilience and Gender Equality
(May 29/2026: ECTA, ADDIS ABABA) — A high-level delegation from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) recently visited the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority’s (ECTA) newly established Coffee interpretation center and Coffee Training Center (CTC). The visit marked a significant milestone in the ongoing partnership between Spain and Ethiopia, showcasing collaborative efforts to preserve Ethiopia's rich coffee heritage while modernizing the sector through sustainable development.
During the visit, Dr. Adugna Debela, Director General of ECTA, commended the Center as a premier model for exploring Ethiopia’s coffee history. He explained that the center meticulously archives the chronological journey of coffee from its historical origins to its global dissemination. Dr. Adugna emphasized that the facility serves as a vital hub for research and development—mapping the entire "seed to cup" value chain—while prominently highlighting the indispensable contributions of women to the sector. Looking ahead, he announced plans for the imminent expansion of the center and expressed sincere gratitude to the Spanish Cooperation and other international partners for their steadfast support.
Ato Shafi Omer, Deputy Director General of ECTA, echoed these sentiments, noting that the Center provides visitors with an accessible, comprehensive understanding of Ethiopia's diverse coffee varieties, distinct flavor profiles, and deep-rooted cultural traditions. He emphasized that before AECID’s vital assistance in constructing this showroom, the Authority lacked a dedicated space to display this heritage. Ato Shafi thanked the delegation for bringing this meaningful project to fruition and pledged ECTA's maximum effort toward implementing upcoming phases and continuously upgrading the Coffee interpretation center.
Providing technical context to the partnership, ECTA Project Coordinator and Executive Director of Women and Social Affairs, Ato Fitsum Mengesha, outlined the tangible impacts of Spain’s "Coffee Portfolio," which is deeply integrated into its Country Partnership Framework. A primary pillar is the flagship project, "Women’s Empowerment for Socio-Ecological Resilience of Coffee Value Chain against Climate Change in Ethiopia," co-funded by the European Union. Actively implemented around the Yayu Biosphere, this initiative safeguards smallholder farmers transitioning away from biodiversity-rich forest systems, while actively correcting gender disparities in a sector where women comprise 70% of the workforce but have historically been excluded from leadership and revenue.
Ato Fitsum also highlighted the successful implementation of the National Gender Equality Strategy, which serves as a guiding framework for empowering women and youth. Furthermore, he noted the establishment of a specialized call center designed to streamline information exchange from farms to export markets, backed by extensive regional and federal training capacity-building programs for female value-chain actors.
This comprehensive portfolio also features the initiative "Empowering Ethiopian Coffee: A South-South Approach to Climate Finance." This project future-proofs the sector by piloting innovative carbon-credit and agroforestry schemes for women producers in the Kaffa Zone and Oromia’s Yayu forest. Additionally, it leverages AECID’s extensive networks to facilitate vital knowledge transfers between Ethiopian institutions and coffee-producing countries. Through these combined efforts, the collaboration has successfully shifted the agricultural narrative from traditional aid to a sophisticated, sustainable model incorporating blockchain-level traceability, climate finance, and institutional gender mainstreaming.
Concluding the visit, the Spanish delegates expressed high praise for the center's development and its strategic focus on building climate resilience through women's empowerment. Reaffirming Spain's long-term commitment, the delegation encouraged ECTA to maintain its current momentum, promising continued, robust bilateral cooperation to drive prosperity across Ethiopia's coffee industry.
Reported by Tesfu Alemayehu.
