In a move to enhance Ethiopia’s standing in the lucrative coffee marketplace the coffee chain Starbucks is to open a Farmer Support Center in the county’s capital Addis Ababa in 2008, the first in Africa.

The facility will enable Starbucks to work collaboratively with Ethiopian farmers to raise both the quality and production of the country’s high quality specialty coffees.

The company will also open a regional Starbucks Farmer Support Center in Rwanda, which will provide an opportunity for Starbucks to collaborate with farmers in Rwanda and in the East Africa region

With the goal of improving coffee quality and growing practices, and increasing the number of farmers participating in the Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices, Starbucks’ sustainable coffee buying guidelines, the Starbucks Farmer Support Centers will provide resources and ongoing support to coffee communities.

In addition to meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles, Starbucks Corporation chairman Howard Schultz and Starbucks executives will meet with government officials, coffee farmers, exporters and other coffee stakeholders at a roundtable discussion to share ideas on how to strengthen the partnership and improve the Ethiopian coffee industry.

Earlier this year, Starbucks signed a distribution, marketing and licensing agreement with Ethiopia and has agreed to assist in expanding consumer awareness of Ethiopia’s famed coffee brands -- Sidamo, Harar/Harrar and Yirgacheffe.

Starbucks established a Latin American Farmer Support Center in Costa Rica in 2004 and company statistics since then indicate improvements in quality evaluation scores, a 20% increase in yields per hectare, an 80% reduction in the use of pesticides and a 5% increase in the suppliers’ C.A.F.E. Practices scores for participating growers in that region.