An Awareness- Raising Workshop was Held on a Strategy Document Designed to Protect Child Labor in Ethiopia's Coffee Sector!
* It has been stated that the exploitation of child labor beyond their capacity has devastating negative consequences. (December 25, 2025 - Adama
An awareness-raising workshop on a strategic document aimed at protecting child labor in the coffee sector was held at the Haile Resort Hotel in Adama.
The workshop was officially opened by Mr. Tagay Nuru, Deputy Director General of the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority and Head of the Coffee, Tea, and Spices Development Sector. In his opening remarks, Mr. Tagay stated that there have been consecutive discussions regarding the necessary elements to be included in the strategy document prepared by CARE Ethiopia. He noted that today’s forum was organized to deliberate on the issues that will lead to the implementation phase.
The Deputy Director General added that there are matters requiring the signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with various stakeholders regarding this initiative. He explained that the strategy details the specific roles & responsibilities of all stakeholders at various levels of the hierarchy and emphasized the need for a follow-up process to sign an agreement for collective implementation. Mr. Tagay mentioned that while coordination will be handled at the federal level, the core work lies within the coffee-growing regions down to the Woreda (district) and Kebele (village) levels, requiring a framework for integrated cooperation.
He further highlighted that preventing child labor is a key task, particularly as it is one of the international compliance criteria for the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). He stated that the Authority and the sector are fortunate to have this work planned as a priority. Finally, Mr. Tagay officially opened the forum by expressing his gratitude to CARE Ethiopia for bringing this work to fruition.
Mrs. Merem Ali, Program Manager at CARE Ethiopia, stated that the draft strategy document regarding child labor had been enriched with input from various stakeholders across three separate forums and that the consolidated document will being presented. Mrs. Merem added that the purpose of the workshop was to focus on the execution process to translate the strategy into action, and she provided a detailed presentation on the document.
During her presentation, she noted that data shows an average of 89.4% of children are involved in agricultural work, with high rates of child labor specifically reported in coffee-producing regions. Mrs. Merem further explained that regarding implementation, detailed guidelines concerning the roles, responsibilities, and coordination processes at both the professional and community levels have been prepared and sent to all regional governments.
Elaborating on the strategic focus and organizational structure, Mrs. Merem emphasized that if the allocated budget is used properly over the five-year implementation period, it will be possible to ensure children return to school and achieve the desired results in improving coffee quality. She also noted that the exploitation of child labor beyond their capacity has devastating negative consequences.
Following constructive feedback from participants representing the regions, various stakeholders, and the Authority, the program concluded with summary remarks given by Mr. Sefisa Ababu, Head of the Director General's Office, and Mr. Fitsum Mengesha, Women’s and Social Affairs Executive at the Authority.
Reported by Tesfu Alemayehu
* It has been stated that the exploitation of child labor beyond their capacity has devastating negative consequences. (December 25, 2025 - Adama
An awareness-raising workshop on a strategic document aimed at protecting child labor in the coffee sector was held at the Haile Resort Hotel in Adama.
The workshop was officially opened by Mr. Tagay Nuru, Deputy Director General of the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority and Head of the Coffee, Tea, and Spices Development Sector. In his opening remarks, Mr. Tagay stated that there have been consecutive discussions regarding the necessary elements to be included in the strategy document prepared by CARE Ethiopia. He noted that today’s forum was organized to deliberate on the issues that will lead to the implementation phase.
The Deputy Director General added that there are matters requiring the signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with various stakeholders regarding this initiative. He explained that the strategy details the specific roles & responsibilities of all stakeholders at various levels of the hierarchy and emphasized the need for a follow-up process to sign an agreement for collective implementation. Mr. Tagay mentioned that while coordination will be handled at the federal level, the core work lies within the coffee-growing regions down to the Woreda (district) and Kebele (village) levels, requiring a framework for integrated cooperation.
He further highlighted that preventing child labor is a key task, particularly as it is one of the international compliance criteria for the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). He stated that the Authority and the sector are fortunate to have this work planned as a priority. Finally, Mr. Tagay officially opened the forum by expressing his gratitude to CARE Ethiopia for bringing this work to fruition.
Mrs. Merem Ali, Program Manager at CARE Ethiopia, stated that the draft strategy document regarding child labor had been enriched with input from various stakeholders across three separate forums and that the consolidated document will being presented. Mrs. Merem added that the purpose of the workshop was to focus on the execution process to translate the strategy into action, and she provided a detailed presentation on the document.
During her presentation, she noted that data shows an average of 89.4% of children are involved in agricultural work, with high rates of child labor specifically reported in coffee-producing regions. Mrs. Merem further explained that regarding implementation, detailed guidelines concerning the roles, responsibilities, and coordination processes at both the professional and community levels have been prepared and sent to all regional governments.
Elaborating on the strategic focus and organizational structure, Mrs. Merem emphasized that if the allocated budget is used properly over the five-year implementation period, it will be possible to ensure children return to school and achieve the desired results in improving coffee quality. She also noted that the exploitation of child labor beyond their capacity has devastating negative consequences.
Following constructive feedback from participants representing the regions, various stakeholders, and the Authority, the program concluded with summary remarks given by Mr. Sefisa Ababu, Head of the Director General's Office, and Mr. Fitsum Mengesha, Women’s and Social Affairs Executive at the Authority.
Reported by Tesfu Alemayehu
Taste Ethiopia,Embrace Opportunities በሚል መሪ ቃል የተዘጋጀው የቡና ፌስትቫል በቤጂንግ የኢትዮጵያ ኤምባሲ እና በኢትዮ-ቻይና የወዳጂነት ኮሜቴ በቻይና በመካሄድ ላይ ነው!!
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ቻይና የኢትዮጵያን ቡና በመግዛት የዛሬ 5 ዓመት ከነበረችበት 33ኛ ደረጃ በተያዘው ዓመት ወደ 4ኛ ደረጃ ከፍ በማለት የኢትዮጵያ ቡና ዋና መዳረሻ ሀገር ሆናለች።
የኢትዮጵያ ቡናን በቻይና ገበያ የበለጠ ለማስተዋወቅ፤ ገበያ ለመፈለግና ኤክስፖርቱን ለማሳደግ ዓላማ ያደረገ ኮንፈረንስ በቻይና ሁናን ግዛት እየተካሄደ ነው። የኢትዮጵያ ቡና እና ሻይ ባለስልጣን ዋና ዳይሬክተር ክቡር ዶ/ር አዱኛ ደበላ እየተሳተፉ የሚገኙ ሲሆን ከእሳቸው በተጨማሪ በቻይና የኢትዮጵያ አምባሳደር ተፈራ ደርበው፣ የግብርና ሚንስትር ዴኤታ ዶ/ር ኢፋ ሙለታ፣ የመንግስት ኮሚኒኬሽን አገልግሎት ሚንስትር ዴኤታ አቶ ተስፋሁን ጎበዛይ ተገኝተዋል። የጁጆ ከተማን ከንቲባ ጨምሮ የቻይና ከፍተኛ አመራሮችም ተሳታፊ ሆነዋል።
በቻይና ሁናን ግዛት ጁጆ ከተማ በተዘጋጀው ኮንፈረንስ ከ700 ሺህ በላይ ሰዎች የኢትዮጵያን ባለልዩ ጣዕም ቡና ለማስቀመስ እቅድ ተይዟል።
ይህንን የበለጠ ለማሳደግና ወደ ቻይና የሚላከውን የቡና ኤክስፖርት መጠን ከፍ ለማድረግ ነው የአሁኑ ኮንፈረንስ የተዘጋጀው።
ኮንፈረንሱን ያዘጋጀው የኢትዮ-ቻይና የወዳጅነት ኮሚቴ የተባለ ድርጅች ነው።
ኢትዮጵያ ባለፈው አመት ከ 35 ሺህ ቶን በላይ ቡና ለቻይና ገበያ አቅርባለች።
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ቻይና የኢትዮጵያን ቡና በመግዛት የዛሬ 5 ዓመት ከነበረችበት 33ኛ ደረጃ በተያዘው ዓመት ወደ 4ኛ ደረጃ ከፍ በማለት የኢትዮጵያ ቡና ዋና መዳረሻ ሀገር ሆናለች።
የኢትዮጵያ ቡናን በቻይና ገበያ የበለጠ ለማስተዋወቅ፤ ገበያ ለመፈለግና ኤክስፖርቱን ለማሳደግ ዓላማ ያደረገ ኮንፈረንስ በቻይና ሁናን ግዛት እየተካሄደ ነው። የኢትዮጵያ ቡና እና ሻይ ባለስልጣን ዋና ዳይሬክተር ክቡር ዶ/ር አዱኛ ደበላ እየተሳተፉ የሚገኙ ሲሆን ከእሳቸው በተጨማሪ በቻይና የኢትዮጵያ አምባሳደር ተፈራ ደርበው፣ የግብርና ሚንስትር ዴኤታ ዶ/ር ኢፋ ሙለታ፣ የመንግስት ኮሚኒኬሽን አገልግሎት ሚንስትር ዴኤታ አቶ ተስፋሁን ጎበዛይ ተገኝተዋል። የጁጆ ከተማን ከንቲባ ጨምሮ የቻይና ከፍተኛ አመራሮችም ተሳታፊ ሆነዋል።
በቻይና ሁናን ግዛት ጁጆ ከተማ በተዘጋጀው ኮንፈረንስ ከ700 ሺህ በላይ ሰዎች የኢትዮጵያን ባለልዩ ጣዕም ቡና ለማስቀመስ እቅድ ተይዟል።
ይህንን የበለጠ ለማሳደግና ወደ ቻይና የሚላከውን የቡና ኤክስፖርት መጠን ከፍ ለማድረግ ነው የአሁኑ ኮንፈረንስ የተዘጋጀው።
ኮንፈረንሱን ያዘጋጀው የኢትዮ-ቻይና የወዳጅነት ኮሚቴ የተባለ ድርጅች ነው።
ኢትዮጵያ ባለፈው አመት ከ 35 ሺህ ቶን በላይ ቡና ለቻይና ገበያ አቅርባለች።