Biogas Potential of Coffee Processing Waste in Ethiopia
- Publication Type
- Journal contribution (peer reviewed)
- Authors
- Chala, B; Oechsner, H; Latif, S; Müller, J
- Year of publication
- 2018
- Published in
- Sustainability
- ISBN / ISSN / eISSN
- 2071-1050
- DOI
- 10.3390/su10082678
- Page (from - to)
- 1-14
- Keywords
- husk, mucilage, parchment, pulp, renewable energy
Coffee production is a livelihood for about 125 million people worldwide, particularly from developing countries [1]. Ethiopia is known to be the origin of and gene pool for coffee Arabica [2]. In the last decade, Ethiopia has been the largest coffee producer in Africa, and it remains fifth in the world, contributing a share of about 4.5% to the world production. Annual coffee production increased from 273,400 Mg in 2007 to 469,091 Mg in 2016, while the cultivation area increased from 407,147 ha to 700,475 ha (Table 1). The annual green bean production has increased in the last 4 consecutive years, but productivity (yield per harvest area) has declined in the same period. The amount of coffee
by-products is directly related to coffee production. Coffee is Ethiopia’s leading export commodity; and the livelihood of more than a million households depends on coffee production [3]. Coffee made up about 24% of the country’s total export earnings for the fiscal period 2012/13 [4]. Ethiopian coffee is produced under forest, semi-forest, garden, and plantation production systems contributing 10, 35, 50, and 5% of the country’s coffee production, respectively. Thus, about 95% of Ethiopia’s coffee is produced by small holder farmers [2,4].