Creating an 'Eco-Friendly Coffee Farm' in Ethiopia... Korea Forest Service Initiates Peace Forest Initiative's First Step

On the 31st of last month (local time), Park Jong-ho, the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service, paid a visit to President Sahle-Work Zewede at the Ethiopian Presidential Palace. Photo by Korea Forest Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korea Forest Service is taking the first step of the Peace Forest Initiative (PFI) by restoring forests in the southwestern region of Ethiopia and transforming them into eco-friendly coffee farms.

According to the Korea Forest Service on the 3rd, Director-General Park Jong-ho visited Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde at the Ethiopian Presidential Palace on the 31st of last month (local time).

At the meeting, Director-General Park introduced the direction of the pilot project for the Peace Forest Initiative to be implemented in Ethiopia starting this year and requested the Ethiopian President's participation in the P4G (Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030) Summit.

The Peace Forest Initiative is a global policy announced last September by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Korea Forest Service at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Conference of the Parties. It is a program that supports forest creation and restoration in border areas or multi-ethnic regions between neighboring countries.

The Korea Forest Service has designated Ethiopia as the first pilot site for the Peace Forest Initiative and plans to start this year a project to restore the degraded forests in southwestern Ethiopia while developing the area into eco-friendly coffee farms.

Ethiopia is the origin of coffee varieties famous such as Yirgacheffe and Sidamo. However, recently, due to climate change, the forest areas are becoming drier and the damaged areas are expanding. The Korea Forest Service envisions completing the Peace Forest Initiative pilot project by simultaneously carrying out forest restoration and eco-friendly coffee farm development in Ethiopia.

In particular, the Ethiopia Peace Forest Initiative pilot project also emphasizes establishing peace policies within the region through strengthened cooperation among the multi-ethnic nation.

The project site is an area where many ethnic groups reside and where ethnic conflicts have frequently occurred. Therefore, the Korea Forest Service plans to facilitate communication among participating ethnic groups by enabling multiple ethnicities to join the forest restoration and coffee farm management pilot project, thereby building trust and ensuring sustained peace in the region.

Director-General Park praised, “Ethiopia is the only African country that dispatched ground troops to Korea during the Korean War.”

He added, “Currently, half of Ethiopia’s national greenhouse gas reduction plan focuses on the forestry sector, making Ethiopia a highly valuable partner country for climate change cooperation. The Korea Forest Service will actively support Ethiopia’s forest restoration and coffee agroforestry model to serve as a role model for P4G member countries.”

In response, President Sahle-Work said, “Ethiopia is currently promoting the ‘4 billion trees planting’ campaign through a national movement,” and expressed hope that “strengthened cooperation with Korea will enable Ethiopia to actively respond to climate change and achieve sustainable growth.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.