Starbucks says it will double coffee purchases from East Africa

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia Starbucks says it will double its coffee purchases from East African countries by 2009.

And the Seattle coffee company told a meeting of the Eastern African Fine Coffees Association in Ethiopia that it would set up a farmer support center and provide one (m) million dollars in micro-finance loans to small farmers.

The announcement comes amid a dispute between Starbucks and the Ethiopian government, which wants to trademark the names of three coffees produced in the country.

Starbucks says about six percent of the coffee it purchased last year came from East Africa where most coffee growers live in poverty. Starbucks says it pays above-average prices for its beans.