ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- Starbucks will double its purchases of fine coffee from East African countries by 2009 and will invest in several aid measures for farmers, the company said Thursday at a coffee conference in the Ethiopian capital.

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

Dub Hay, Starbucks' vice president of coffee procurement, told a meeting of the Eastern African Fine Coffees Association on Thursday that the company plans to double its coffee purchases from East Africa by 2009.

Seattle-based Starbucks, the world's largest specialty coffee retailer, said about 6 percent of the 294 million pounds of coffee it bought in the last fiscal year came from East Africa.

"East Africa is not only the birthplace of coffee and the origin of some of the finest coffees in the world, its coffee trade is tied to the well-being and economic development of the region's countries and people," Hay said.

Starbucks, which had sales of $7.8 billion in 2006, also said it would help small-scale coffee producers by providing $1 million in micro-finance loans and would set up a farmer support center to improve farm practices and bean quality.