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OROMIA Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union

"With the extra income from the coffee sales, we have built a school and given a dividend to our members who are now able to pay school fees for their children" Dulecha Gobena - Chairman, Kilenso Resa Cooperative, Yirgachefe.

Oromia Coffee Farmers’ Co-operative Union (OCFCU) was founded in 1999 by 35 small certified organic cooperatives. OCFCU is the umbrella organization of 115 cooperatives in Oromia, the largest province of Ethiopia, where 60% of the coffee in the country is produced. Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee and yet the fourth poorest country in the world. All OCFCU members are indigenous farmers or small local producers, with farmland of an average size of 0.5 to 2 hectares. Most of the farmland locates in mountainous, rainforest areas at altitudes of 1,500 to 2,000 metres where electricity and running water are rarely supplied.

OCFCU aims at helping local producers to be self-sustainable through improving the quality, productivity and sustainability of Ethiopian coffee. This is achieved through boosting the sales and promoting the reputation of Ethiopian coffee. OCFCU gives the farmers fair price that 70% of profits as a kind of dividend return to the cooperatives and the farmers. With improved income and funding from Fair Trade premiums, four health clinics, two clean water pumps were constructed; five primary schools were built to help children to receive education so as to fight against poverty. Moreover, local farmers have used the extra income to build or repair houses and purchase livestock.