In Ethiopia coffee represents major export commodity. Export cultivation, roosting and trade are major source of cash income and provider of employment, supporting millions of Ethiopian families.

However, the sector is still largely untapped. This is due to the rudimental agronomic practices and poor harvesting systems, but also to the lack of coordination among stakeholders, limited market linkages and absence of value addition to the produce.

Since 2016, COOPI in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Illy Caffé, Ernesto Illy Foundation and TechnoServe is implementing a project funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS). The project main goal is to raise incomes, enhancing livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the Dello Mena Woreda of Bale Zone, Oromia Region, through the improvement of coffee production’s quality and by adding value acquiring international recognition of the Harenna forest wild coffee quality.

Thanks to its intervention, COOPI is addressing 10,530 beneficiaries, members of 12 selected cooperatives of coffee farmers. Up to today, the cooperatives improved their internal organization and financial accounting capability, the volume of coffee purchased increased sharply, a monitoring system was put in place and trainings on sustainable and environment-friendly coffee production were provided to the leaders of the farmers’ groups.

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