“Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi” - With your basket and my basket the people will thrive.
Nō Etiopia te kawhe Harar. Ko Oromo te ingoa o te iwi i te rohe o Oromia. Ko te Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union te ingoa o te manatōpū kaiahuwhenua.
(Harar coffee originates in Ethiopia. The Oromo people are the tribe in the area of Oromia. Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union is the name of the farming cooperative.)
The very high altitude of North Eastern Ethiopia gives this coffee a delightful complexity only found in the most exceptional coffees. First there’s the enticing aroma of spicy ginger. You’ll then taste dark chocolate and apricot with the full body of a good wine. He tino reka te Harar nei! This Harar is super delicious (and of course available right here).
Coffee has been grown and harvested in these highly inaccessible valleys for centuries. The hot climate means that Harar has always been a naturally processed coffee. As seen in the photo below, the cherries are dried on the farm on raised mesh beds.
The OCFCU was formed in 1999 and covers all the areas where the Oromo people live. It is made up of a number of member cooperatives who together represent more than 557,186 household farmers. That’s pretty phenomenal aye? Rega Damu is the primary cooperative of the OCFCU in the Harerge region.
The OCFCU takes pride in not only paying members for their product, but in addition 70% of net profits are redistributed to cooperatives and cooperatives pay 70% of their profits back to members. The remainder of the profit is used for projects that will benefit members and their communities. Significant investment has been made in education, health, fresh water and infrastructure.
OCFCU has also invested in its business practices to ensure the high quality of its products including a cupping lab and a processing facility that offers employment to 2,000 seasonal workers. Recently they have also added a members bank which can assist members with much needed pre-harvest financing. It's generous, community-minded, practices like this, that lead to young farmers (shown in the photo below) feeling so hopeful about their, and their community's, future! So good!
OCFCU is a great example of how fairtrade practices enable small producers to flourish by coming together.
Thanks to Trade Aid Importers for the photos.
