Ethiopia – Ethiopian Coffee Development Program

Increasing Smallholder Incomes from Coffee by Mitigating Value Chain Constraints

ACDI/VOCA has won a Cordaid-funded Ethiopian coffee development program, which will benefit 12,000 smallholder coffee farmers. The program will increase smallholder incomes by focusing on the major constraints in the coffee value chain: coffee productivity, quality, traceability and export management.

To address these constraints, ACDI/VOCA will provide training and technical assistance to farmers in composting, pruning, timely cherry picking and sun drying on raised beds. ACDI/VOCA will also work with exporters, unions, washing station owners, cooperatives and farmers to implement a system of traceability in order to guarantee that quality characteristics are preserved from the farm to the cup and to ensure that the premiums for this quality make their way back to the smallholder producers. This technical assistance will complement the activities of other donor-funded projects, which are focusing on seedling multiplication, grading and marketing.

ACDI/VOCA’s past work in Ethiopian coffee includes the highly successful Agricultural Cooperatives in Ethiopia (ACE) program, which supported the establishment of secondary-level unions and expanded farmers’ access to purchasing and distribution outlets. The success of ACE was extensive; for example, in 2005, Starbucks designated coffee produced by ACDI/VOCA’s client Ferro Cooperative in Sidama its eighth Black Apron Exclusive.

Cordaid extended ECDP until June 2011 to build upon the achievements of the current program in improving farm-level productivity and quality by expanding technical assistance to additional farmers.

The extension activities will be implemented in the same geographic area but will target an expanded population, including the following:

Individual smallholder coffee growers

The main target group will continue to be smallholder coffee farmers, increasing the number of the beneficiaries in the two districts. Their livelihoods largely depend on the coffee they produce on their average land holdings of one-half to two hectares. There are 4,590 direct beneficiaries under the current program; another 5,000 farmers are projected to benefit under ECDP II.

Private and public coffee traders and processors

Other important target groups are private and public traders and processors of coffee. They include farmers’ organizations (primarily service cooperatives and their unions), private traders (suppliers) as well as wet and sundry coffee processors. Farmers’ service cooperatives can play a significant role in farm-gate pricing and marketing but their involvement is currently limited by their weak technical and financial capacities. The capacities of private traders and processors are also weak, which reduces efficiency and create little incentive to engage in market practices that can increase the farm-gate price.

Private and public organizations involved in coffee-related extension and regulatory activities

ACDI/VOCA chose the following target groups due to their importance in facilitating and coordinating project implementation and ensuring sustainability after the project ends:

• development agents
• subject matter specialists and cooperative organizers of regional bureaus
• zone and district offices of agriculture and rural development
• other organizations involved in developing and organizing cooperatives, processing, quality and market inspection, licensing and other coffee-related extension and regulatory activities

For more information, contact Alex Gebrehiwot at agebrehiwot@acdivoca.org.

Updated: 6/10

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