09/06/2022
THE FALLACY OF VALUE ADDITION IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR.
In his address of 7 June 2022, H.E YKM dived into statistics of how the country looses alot by exporting raw and unprocessed agricultural produce instead of exporting finished goods. This message was indeed appealing to majority of development seeking citizens. Whereas this initial argument made alot of sense, he crowned it with the most disappointing Revelation in the entire speech- The incompetence of the Italian coffee investor. He made it clear that the contracted sole exporter of coffee didnot have any knowledge and clue in this line of business. This leaves alot of unanswered questions.
Sole exporter aside, How competitive can our coffee be on the international market? Does it meet the international standards ? Have we developed internal capacity to address the supply bottlenecks?, Reduce pure reliance on nature?
The country's coffee potential is indeed high but can only be fully maximized with clear cut well intentioned policies that benefit the farmers and all other Local players.
