Government and ADB sign agreement to support the coffee sector
The Government of Timor-Leste, through the Minister of Finance, Fernando Hanjam, signed today, July 13, 2020, an agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the development of a project to improve the livelihoods of producers in the agroforestry and coffee sector. The signing ceremony of the agreement took place in the Auditorium of the Ministry of Finance in Dili.
The agreement provides for a grant of US$3 million to support 2,000 coffee-producing families through training of good agricultural practices and access to finance. The project aims to improve the quality of coffee and the links of producers with the market, internal and external, in order to increase the livelihoods of producers.
The project will be implemented over the next four years and will be administered directly by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, with the support of the Coffee Association of Timor-Leste (ACTL), contributing towards achieving the Government's goals, established in the National Coffee Sector Development Plan 2019-2023, launched last year. Under this plan, the Government will invest US$38 million in six main areas, which are research and development, production and productivity, quality and value increase, market access, domestic consumption and tourism, and coordination of sector management.
The project also has the support of Japan, through the Japanese Fund for Poverty Reduction and focuses on the coffee-producing municipalities of Aileu, Ainaro, Bobonaro, Ermera, Liquiça and Manufahi. The project aims to double the agroforestry and national coffee production, and pave way for a 270% increase in coffee export revenues by 2030. It will also help the Government strengthen information management, industry coordination and knowledge sharing.
Coffee is the most exported non-petroleum product from Timor-Leste, and about 37.5% of Timorese households grow coffee, half of which depend on this harvest for income.
In addition to the Minister of Finance, the ceremony was also attended by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Pedro dos Reis, the Deputy Minister of Finance, Sara Lobo Brites, the Ambassador of Japan in Timor-Leste, Kinefuchi Masami and through videoconference, the Resident Director of the ADB in Timor-Leste, Sunil Mitra.
