Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union facts for kids

The Oromia Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Union (OCFCU) is a group of small farms working together in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. This area has special plants and a warm, wet climate that's perfect for growing coffee. OCFCU is run by its members, following ideas of fairness and working together. They are very important in how coffee is sold from Ethiopia. The farmers in OCFCU grow, prepare, and sell organic Arabica coffee to other countries.

History of OCFCU

Ethiopian regions and zones

Coffee was first found in the Oromia region. However, a previous government made rules that stopped coffee farming from growing. Farmers had to sell their coffee through local traders and special centers. This meant farmers had little say in how their coffee was sold and often stayed poor.

In the 1990s, Tadesse Meskela, who would become OCFCU's first General Manager, visited Japan. He learned about how cooperatives work there. He brought back videos to Ethiopia to show how farmers could work together. His idea for a farmer-led business was accepted.

The OCFCU started on June 1, 1999. It began with 34 smaller groups, representing about 22,000 farmers, and had about US$90,000 to start. Soon, Oromia became a major coffee area in Ethiopia, with over 65% of the land used for coffee. The Union first trained farmers and government workers on how cooperatives operate. In the beginning, they exported 72 metric tonnes of coffee, making US$130,000.

By 2020, OCFCU had grown a lot. It included 405 smaller groups, representing over 400,000 farmers, and had more than US$20 million. Exports also grew to 7,000 metric tonnes, with sales over US$40 million. In July 2018, OCFCU invested over US$1.5 million to build its first coffee roasting and packaging factory. This factory started working in February 2020. Its goal is to roast, grind, and package coffee for people to use locally.

Goals of OCFCU

Ethiopian coffee zones

OCFCU wants to see farmer groups become strong leaders in both rural and city areas. They believe this will help bring positive change.

The main goal of the Union is to help farmers sell their coffee directly. This means they avoid auctions and middlemen like collectors or other sellers. By selling directly, farmers earn more money, which is then given back to them. This also helps solve the problem of farmers waiting a long time to get paid.

The Union has six main goals:

• Help farmers earn more money by selling their coffee directly.
• Make Ethiopian coffee better quality and produce more of it.
• Improve services for member farmers and customers.
• Improve the lives of farmers.
• Make sure the local coffee industry can keep going strong for a long time.
• Help keep the local coffee market stable.

How OCFCU is Managed

The Union has five main leaders: a General Manager, a Deputy General Manager, a Commercial Department Head, a Financial Department Head, and an Export Sales Head. There is also a large meeting called the general assembly. This meeting includes one leader from each of the 405 smaller farmer groups.

These annual meetings bring together the top leaders and the representatives from each group. This is where they decide on and check the Union's plans. The plans approved at these meetings are then given to the Cooperative’s Boards to carry out. The board then tells the managers what to do each day. The managers are responsible to their boards and to the farmers who are members. Most of these farmers are small landowners in the Oromia region.

Types of Coffee Grown

Oromia coffee ceremony

OCFCU sells six types of organic Arabica coffee beans. They offer both natural (un-washed) and washed coffee beans. These coffees come from six different areas in Oromia:

• Harar: Natural coffee. It has a medium to light sour taste, a full body, and a strong mocha flavor with hints of blueberry.
• Jimma: Natural coffee. This coffee is well-balanced, with medium sourness and body, and a clear wine-like taste.
• Limmu: Washed coffee. It is well-balanced, with medium sourness and body, and a clear wine-like taste.
• Nekemte: Natural and washed coffee. It has good sourness, a medium body, and a wild, fruity finish.
• Sidamo: Natural and washed coffee. It has a bright sourness, a medium body, and spicy and citrus flavors.
• Yirgacheffe: Natural and washed coffee. It has a bright sourness, a medium body, and clear jasmine and lemon flavors.

Successes and Benefits for Farmers

Global Coffee Exports

OCFCU understood how important it was to sell coffee to other countries. They worked to connect small farmers directly with international coffee markets. By 2014, they were sending coffee to places like Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 2014, the Union was Ethiopia’s biggest exporter of organic coffee. It was also the second largest in the world for Fair trade coffee exports.

Better Prices and Profits

The coffee market often has more sellers (farmers) than buyers. This means buyers can have a lot of power over prices. Cooperatives like OCFCU help by reducing costs and giving farmers more power to negotiate. The Union has cut down on the number of middlemen between coffee growers and the export market. This has greatly increased the value farmers get from their coffee.

The Union has helped farmers get better deals and has grown large, which helps them save money. They also offer different types of coffee, which helps them reach more customers. Cooperatives also help reduce poverty in developing countries and create jobs. OCFCU gives 70% of its profits back to the farmer groups and their members. By 2014, they had paid out US$3 million in profits to farmers. Because of their success, the Union now employs 2,000 people, both full-time and seasonal workers.

Awards and Certifications

OCFCU has won several awards and is known as a top producer of Arabica coffee beans. In 2000, their coffee was rated among the best in the world at a major coffee conference. In 2012, OCFCU coffee was ranked first out of 250 different coffees in a competition.

The Union also has many important certifications. These include Fair trade, organic, UTZ, and Rainforest Alliance certified coffees. All 405 farmer groups within OCFCU follow Fair trade principles. The first group was certified Fair trade in 2002. By 2020, 48 groups had earned this certification.

Helping Local Communities

Ethiopian women traditionally roasting raw coffee beans

Besides helping with money, the Union has also brought many social benefits to its members and local communities. They have improved roads, built storage places, bridges, clinics, and schools. OCFCU also helps members get access to banking and credit, training on coffee quality, education, flour mills, and community clinics.

The table below shows some of the projects the Union has completed to help communities:

Challenges Faced by OCFCU

Climate Change and Farming

Coffee plants are greatly affected by changes in weather. As diseases and pests become more common, and temperatures rise, it becomes harder to grow coffee successfully. Some farming families have small plots of land and are more affected by these weather changes.

For generations, Ethiopian coffee farming has been sustainable. Most coffee is grown in the shade, which is good for birds. In 2014, OCFCU worked with a company in the Netherlands to help farmers stop using wood for cooking. This project aims to make coffee carbon-neutral, meaning it doesn't add to climate change. Farmers get extra payments and special cooking stoves. These new stoves reduce carbon dioxide by up to 70% compared to open fires. The money from carbon credits helps communities deal with the effects of climate change.

Another challenge for OCFCU farmers is that coffee trees get old. A coffee tree can take up to five years to grow big enough to produce coffee. This means a lot of hard work is needed to get the tree ready and make a profit. Also, when a tree no longer produces enough coffee, it's hard to clear the land to plant new ones. In the past, there was more help for growing new trees, but this support has decreased.

Changing Coffee Prices

Coffee prices can change a lot, which is a big risk for farmers. Coffee is the main way many poor Ethiopian farmers earn money. However, coffee prices, like other raw materials, can go up and down more than prices for finished products. When world coffee prices change, it directly affects how much Ethiopian farmers earn. When prices are low, many farmers don't make enough money and can face hunger.

Before the harvest season (June to September), farmers used to borrow money at high interest rates from private lenders to live and improve their farms. But in 2005, the Union started its own financial services through the Cooperative Bank of Oromia. This organization now gives money and loans to 70% of its members before harvest. This helps ensure their crops grow well.

See also

• Black Gold (film)
• Coffee production in Ethiopia
• Tadesse Meskela