Ethiopian Farmers Embrace Sustainable
Agriculture, Become First Growers of Rainforest Alliance Certified
Coffee in Africa
Rainforest
Alliance
Farmers in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, have announced
the birth of a sustainable coffee movement. The group of 678
family farms in the Djimmah region are the first in Africa
to win Rainforest Alliance Certification. The news marks the
Rainforest Alliance's first coffee partnership outside Latin
America, where more than 3,400 farms in ten countries already
promote socially responsible and environmentally sustainable
agriculture.
"We are proud to be recognized as the first holder
of the Rainforest Alliance certification in Africa",
said Suffian Mahdi, Managing Director of ASK International
Trading and the project leader in Ethiopia. "The support
for sustainable coffee farmers is an honorable step and an
encouragement for the people of our country. Rainforest Alliance
certification is a means for the farmers to generate a better
price and helps our company to remain competitive."
The farmers began preparing for certification a year ago.
In order to win Rainforest Alliance certification, farms must
meet an exacting set of standards that require ecosystem and
wildlife conservation as well as agro-chemical reduction.
The standards verify that workers have access to healthcare,
education and dignified housing. Farms that meet the standards
are awarded the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal.
The EFICO Foundation in Belgium helped finance improvements
on the farms that were needed for certification, and Belgian
coffee importer EFICO is purchasing the certified coffee.
"This achievement means the empowerment of a local
African community in one of the poorest countries in the world",
noted Patrick F. Installé, Managing Director of EFICO.
"Rainforest Alliance certification enables the farmers
to sell their coffee as a specialty product. One of the biggest
challenges in Ethiopia is environmental degradation, and the
Rainforest Alliance certification is a step to do something
about it."
The newly certified farmers cultivate the coffee in gardens
covering 4,500 acres, together with subsistence crops like
avocado, banana and beans.
The announcement comes as demand for Rainforest Alliance
Certified coffee is rapidly growing. "We congratulate
these progressive farmers and EFICO," said Karin
Kreider, director of Sustainable Agriculture at the Rainforest
Alliance. "The Rainforest Alliance started its work
in Ethiopia at the request of coffee buyers, suppliers and
farmers. We are involving local stakeholders to make sure
that our certification standards are properly adapted to the
local realities. We will also start training auditors because
we believe that local professionals are the best experts in
environmental and social issues."
Coffee was first discovered in the Kaffa region in Ethiopia.
Arabs cultivated the wild plant as early as 600AD, first as
a medicine. The beverage made from roasted beans was introduced
from Arabia into Turkey in 1554, from Turkey into Italy in
1615 and soon thereafter into other European countries. It
reached Brazil -- now the world's largest producer -- in 1727.
Today Ethiopia is an important producer of high-quality coffee.
Shade-grown Arabica beans are cultivated throughout the country.
Some 95 percent of the Ethiopian coffee production - around
5 million 132 pound bags - is produced by small farms. Native
coffee also grows wild in the rapidly declining natural forests
in the western part of the state, where it still has the potential
to be sustainably harvested. The Rainforest Alliance is working
with Ethiopian farmers to fight deforestation and preserve
native plants and habitat.
Coffee drinking remains an integral part of Ethiopian culture:
some 35 percent of production is consumed domestically. Traditional
coffee ceremonies are part of all important events and figure
prominently in the lives of the Rainforest Alliance Certified
farmers. As one farmer recounted: "We drink three
cups of coffee in the morning, and then some more in the afternoon.
We share the coffee ceremony with our neighbors. Coffee drinking,
but also picking, is a social event."
The Ethiopian farmers were certified as a group under the
administration of ASK International Trading, PLC
and Jihad Mohammed, owner of a washing and buying
station in Haro, Manna. Experienced auditors from
the Rainforest Alliance and Fundación Natura,
its partner conservation group in Colombia, performed
the certification audit on farms.
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