Co-ops

Ethiopia - Yirgacheffe

Negele Gorbitu Co-operavtive, Yirgacheffe (Ethopia)

Located 400 kilometres south of the capital Addis Abbaba, Yirgacheffe is a town that marks a smaller coffee growing region within the larger Sidamo province. Yirgacheffe is a lush, fertile place. Water is plentiful, which enables the coffee producers to wet-process their beans. Wet-processing as opposed to Dry-processing involves removing the flesh of the coffee cherry and soaking the remaining parchment coffee in water for some 16 - 26 hours to ferment the coffee and remove the sticky residue of the cherry pulp. The coffee is then generally sun dried on large concrete pads or on chicken wire boxes above the ground until the beans are ready for bagging.

Dry-processed coffee is often used where the water is scarce and involves putting the coffee cherries out to dry in the sun immediately after picking. Dry-processed, or sun-dried coffee tends to have sweeter, more musty flavours while wet-processed coffees have a cleaner flavour profile. High grade (2) Yirgacheffe wet processed coffee has great acidity, with numerous high notes of floral, spice and citric tones. The exotic smell and flavour of Yirgacheffe coffee has the ability to transport someone who has experienced Ethiopia back there in an instant.

The Negele Gorbitu co-operative sells its coffee to the international market through the Oromia Coffee Farmers's Cooperative Union in Addis Abbaba. Oromia is made up of 101 individual co-operatives, of which 11 (including Negele Gorbitu) are FLO-certified.

What does Fair Trade mean to Negele Gorbitu?

Producers in the Negele Gorbitu co-operative are currently being paid 3.2 birr per kilogram of coffee cherries, which is the market rate. However, they also receive dividends from Oromia profits (in total farmers receive 50% of Oromia's profits), and a US 5 cent per pound social premium that the Negele Gorbitu co-operative receives. This social premium is paid once a year, and the co-operative members gather in July to decide how the money will be spent.

Recent investments include a medical clinic, and a school. The school has four classrooms, and has dramatically increased the availability of education in the area. Before it was built, the 150 students had to walk 10 kilometres and ford a river to attend classes. The new building has seen the roll grow to 550 students. While the school is still pretty primitive, it is a major step in transforming the futures of the local children.

Ethiopia - Harrar

Illi Darartu Co-operative, Harrar

The Illili Darartu co-operative is located on a hill near Mount Garamulata, a peak about three hours outside of Harrar. (Harrar is about 10 hours east from the capital of Addis Abbaba.) The Harrar region is very dry, and water is scarce - ever since the nearby town of Bedeno grew in size, piped water has stopped fl owing, and producers must get their water from the valley, a trip that takes six hours in total. Coffee is, as a result, dry-processed. The cherries are dried in the sun, and then pulverised in a mortar and pestle to retrieve the beans. There are 590 members in the Illili Darartu co-operative, which produces approximately 400 tonnes of coffee per year. Each member is typically a coffee-growing family, and will produce about 700 kilograms. While prices for coffee are standard, the social premium paid for fairtrade beans makes all the difference. The Illili Darartu co-operative received $27,000 NZ in 2005, enough to invest in a major social project.

Like the Negele Gorbitu co-operative, the members of Illili Darartu decided to invest their money in a four-classroom school which holds 610 pupils. For the local community, the education of the children was paramount, opening up opportunities for the kids to take on jobs that were not available to their parents.

ISMAM, Mexico

Indigenes de la Sierra Madre de Motozintla (ISMAM) Co-operative, Mexico

The ISMAM Co-operative was established in 1985 and represents 938 Mayan farmers from more than 100 rural communities in the region of Sierra Madre de Chiapas. The cooperative was founded with the goal of improving members' lives by avoiding exploitive local intermediaries. ISMAN produces 171 containers of coffee every year, which are all organic certified.

The producers come from 100 smaller collectives who own plots an average of 4 hectares in size. They are located up to 350km (or nine hours by truck) from the organisation's base in Tapachula. The coffee is grown under the forest canopy at around 1400 metres.

The co-operative is able to guarantee prices to its members prior to the harvest, and buys all its members' production. Due to fair trade's higher prices, members are all able to send their children at least to primary school and, in many cases, to high school as well. They have also diversified into citrus trees to improve food security and family incomes. Previously, low incomes had caused large migration which caused a loss indigenous culture and local traditions. Migration rates have decreased.

PPKGO, Indonesia

Gayo Organic Farmers Coffee Association (PPKGO), Indonesia

An organic cooperative located in the Gayo Highlands of the Aceh provinceof Sumatra, Indonesia, PPKGO has 1900 members, and an annual production of 99 containers. Established in 1997, the co-operative is ethnically diverse, and contains Gayo, Javanese, Acehnese, Padangand Batak peoples among it's membership.

This region is an environmentally sensitive buffer zone, with sanctuaries for endangered species such as the Sumatran tiger, as well as containing large amounts of political conflict. Coffee is trucked from the co-op's processing mill in Takengon to the portof Medanalong stretches of road where rebel attacks are commonplace.

What does Fair Trade mean for PPKGO?

"The value added from Fair Trade is not just about money, it is about protecting the ecosystem and our community. We are able to invest in infrastructure to improve our well-being. Thanks to Fair Trade, one of my children is now in medical school and the other is in midwifery school."

- Mohammed Salim, PPKGO member

The Fair Trade premium to goes towards improving resource conservation, sustainable agriculture and a credit union that gives out small loans to member families. It has helped with improvements to the water supply, local roads, mosques and schools, as well as agricultural diversification into vanilla, potatoes and bananas.

PPKGO mobilised relief efforts assisting those people in Aceh most severely affected by the earthquake-tsunami that struck Southeast Asiain December 2004. In this context, the Fair Trade price supported the co-operative's efforts to collect and distribute several tons of rice, vegetables, and crucial supplies to Banda Aceh in addition to extensive volunteer time and labour for relief work, build and repair 34 homes, and support orphans and widows in the community.

COSURA, Columbia

Empresa Co-operative Del Sur Delcauca (COSURA), Colombia

COSURA is a co-operative composed of 15 farmer associations and coffee cooperatives from four municipalities in Cauca, a mountainous provinceof South-Western Colombia. Established in 1993, COSURA represents 1090 members, and produces 17 containers of coffee every year.

This organisation has been seriously affected by armed extremist groups who value the area for its proximity to the jungle and abundant natural resources. Many farmers in the area have converted their coffee crops to more profitable, illegal ones while others have been threatened and displaced by armed groups.

What does Fair Trade mean to COSURA?

"Solidarity between farmers and indigenous communities is essential to the survival of various organizations in Colombia during this period of extreme vulnerability. For our organization, this strategy unfolds within the framework of Fair Trade as we consider this the most effective source of social and economic improvement for our farmers."

- Excerpt from COSURA letter to TransFair USA

Fair trade has provided a strong organization and financial stability whilst other farmers have to convert to illegal crops. The people here have been able to retain their land and maintain their organic certification; organic coffee production is a tradition that began in the area more than 100 years ago. Savings are allocated to members providing the funds to grow a variety of fruits and vegetables for home consumption.

PRODECOOP, Nicaragua

Promotora De Desarollo Co-operativo De Las Segovias (PRODECOOP), Nicaragua

Established in 1993, and situated in the in the Segovia region of northern Nicaragua; PRODECOOP represents 40 cooperatives and 2,318 individual families and produces 90 containers of coffee every year. The cooperative was established to provide assistance to its members' families in sustainable production and the marketing of their coffee.

What does Fair Trade mean to PRODECOOP?

"Things have changed for us because before the middleman did not hear us. If I needed an advance he would say you must mortgage this and this, and the price he gave me for the coffee was very cheap so I did not earn anything. But now we have a secure market and the co-op can keep us in work".

- Noel Mercado, PRODECOOP

As well as providing higher income directly to coffee farmers, PRODECOOP supports many social and quality control programs, including building and repair members' homes, ever-improving coffee production facilities, and an educational support program which includes scholarships and free school materials for students. There is a strong emphasis on producing coffee of the highest quality. In 2004, co-op members took the three top places in the Nicaraguan 'Cup of Excellence' competition.