KUWAIT CITY The Kuwait-based Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) has granted Tunisia a 32-million-dinar ($105-million) loan to help pay for the construction of a drinking water p

The project entails making use of fresh drinking water resources in six northern valleys by creating dams and piping the stored water to various areas including the capital and coastal areas and to Sa

The loan is to be paid back over a 22-year period with 4.5 percent annual interest, DPA reported.

A six-year grace period would also be granted, it said. exporters, notably Vietnam, which joined the ICO just this month, caused the organization's price barometer to plunge 65 percent over the five years to October, though prices h

Earnings from coffee exports among ICO members more than halved over three years to $5.8 billion (6.3 billion euros) in the 2000/01 producer year.

African producers, which are especially dependent on exports of coffee and other primary commodities, saw earnings tumble by 58 percent over three years to just $763 million in 2000/01.

"Coffee, which is one of the commodities that provides the main part of the export earnings of developing countries, has been experiencing a significant market imbalance for more than two years, resul

"This situation has led to a serious deterioration in the living conditions of a large number of coffee growers who depend on coffee for most of their income," it warned in a report to be presented at

Coffee accounts for more than half of the export earnings of some producer countries, and is relied upon particularly by impoverished farmers who have insufficient resources to grow other types of cro

Unlike many developing countries in Asia and, to a lesser extent, Latin America, African countries have not managed to diversify their economies over the past three decades.

Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia in particular are still heavily dependent on coffee exports.

Last year, producers focused on efforts to rescue prices from the doldrums through an export retention plan. But those efforts foundered, failing to boost prices significantly.

Producers argue that they deserve a larger slice of the industry's profit, much of which goes to processors and retailers.

The ICO says that as recently as 1996-97, producers' share of a $30-35 billion industry was 10 billion. Now it is estimated to be worth $60 billion, and producers receive no more than five billion of

The organization hopes that other producers can follow the lead of Brazil, the world's leading coffee producer, which has succeeded in reducing the value of its earnings from coffee exports to less th

The grouping is calling for support for farmers to grow food crops on part of the land set aside for coffee.