From Economic Vulnerability to Sustainable Livelihoods: The Case of Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union in Ethiopia

Meskela, Tadesse and Teshome, Yalem (2014): From Economic Vulnerability to Sustainable Livelihoods: The Case of Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union in Ethiopia.

Abstract

We present the case study of a fast growing agribusiness cooperative in Ethiopia, Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (OCFCU). OCFCU was established in 1999 by 34 cooperatives and a capital of US$90,000. Nowadays, OCFCU has 240 cooperatives and a capital exceeding $12,000,000 USD. Well known in the specialty coffee market, OCFCU works with growers across Ethiopia influencing communities economically and socially. Using the GLIMPSE perspective, we investigate the raw-bean procurement, transportation, quality control, economies realized through coordination, on-going initiatives to capture value added in processing, and associated challenges in the East African context of small-holder farmers, credit and infrastructure constraints.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Ethiopia, coffee farmers, co-operatives, specialty coffee market, exports
• Subjects: O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O13 - Agriculture ; Natural Resources ; Energy ; Environment ; Other Primary Products; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q0 - General > Q01 - Sustainable Development; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q1 - Agriculture > Q13 - Agricultural Markets and Marketing ; Cooperatives ; Agribusiness; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q1 - Agriculture > Q17 - Agriculture in International Trade

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