Note
from Wondwossen: This report appears to initially imply
that the departure of the coffee auction center's (ECX) former CEO has something
got to do with one of the major problems that the coffee chain is facing, namely
inadequate coffee inspection logistics, but failed to explain the connection.
In fact, the problem is a systemic issue that has been affecting the sector and
cost business operators dearly from day one. Ironically, the problem could
easily be minimized by distributing portable laboratory equipment to - and educating - transporters and suppliers of the impacts of higher moisture
levels in green coffee bags, and by devising a process that will prevent the corrupt process at ECX centers where some suppliers apparently manage to sneak in stocks of coffees with a higher than acceptable moisture level.
The average cost of an SCAA approved capacitance metering is $300, which is affordable by ECX and worth the investment considering the inconvenience and cost incurred by transporters and suppliers due to such a recurring problem. Despite, the problem continues to be a major obstacle to increasing the much needed foreign exchange and agricultural and rural development in the country.
The average cost of an SCAA approved capacitance metering is $300, which is affordable by ECX and worth the investment considering the inconvenience and cost incurred by transporters and suppliers due to such a recurring problem. Despite, the problem continues to be a major obstacle to increasing the much needed foreign exchange and agricultural and rural development in the country.
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By Yonas Abiye
November 17, 2012
After the founding CEO of the
Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX), Elene Gebremedhin (Ph.D.), left the
Exchange, complaints are coming from truck drivers who deliver coffee to the
coffee inspection and quality assurance center of Bonga because of long queues,
congestion and incapacitated service.
This week The Reporter visited the
ECX office in Bonga and witnessed hundreds of trucks loaded with coffee while
waiting in long queues to get their coffee quality inspected and receive
assurance letter.
Frustrated drivers told The Reporter
that they are forced to wait for up to 20 days at the gate of the inspection
center and they were incurring extra cost.
“They do not even explain anything.
We rather face many problems as we are wasting valuable time”, an Isuzu truck
driver, who requested anonymity, told The Reporter.
“It is five days since I have been
here and there are around 27 trucks that arrived here before me. Sometimes they
say there is system failure and sometimes they say that our coffee is not dried
enough to pass the inspection,” another frustrated driver said while hopelessly
rubbing his truck’s body .
According to the drivers and local
parking attendants, the center is too small to entertain and to accommodate the
number of trucks. Its daily capacity can not accommodate more than 15 trucks.
Se’are Mahtem, an attendant for
Wondimamachoch Parking Service, said that he registered only forty-one trucks’
plate numbers which he believed would get service in the next two days. “It’s
also difficult for us too. The problem can only be solved by the ECX.
Both the parking attendants as well
as drivers agree that the problem is “poor coordination” of the ECX and the
Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).
“This center usually forces some
trucks to stay for more days if the coffee is not dried. But the MoA should at
first make sure whether the coffee is dried enough when it is collected. If it
can do so, there would not be such congestion at this inspection center. This
would also enable us not to waste our time,” the anonymous driver said.
ECX's CEO Anteneh Assefa, on his
part, said that the moisture content of the coffee delivered to the inspection
center is the reason that made drivers to stay long. But he refutes the
accusation of having a system problem.
"The moisture content of the
coffee must not exceeds from 11 to 12 percent. But most of the coffee delivered
to the Bonga center is more than the standard. This is because of the place
where the coffee is collected which has more than nine months of rain. So, many
trucks may be forced to stay for more days until their coffee gets dried. But
we have no problem of efficiency'” Anteneh told The Reporter.
Anteneh also confirmed that there
might be a problem from the very place where the coffee is collected. To curb
this problem we always work together with the Ministry of Agriculture.
The problem is mostly associated
with the truck owners and the drivers to ensure the dryness of the the coffee
before they come to our center.