Ethiopia: How Coffee Farmers Sponsor Government Projects
Nairobi — Ethiopia, a poor East African country with record of abject poverty, is now one of the fastest growing economies in that region. This achievement followed an effective value chain developed by the country's coffee farmers under the aegis of Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (OCFCU) that does not only improved the earnings of the Ethiopian farmers but also empowered the OCFCU to sponsor some government projects. Delivering a paper at the recently concluded conference on Finance for Revolutionising agricultural value chain in Nairobi, Kenya, co-sponsored by the African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA) and the Technical Center for Agricultural and Rural Cooperative (CTA), Mr. Dessalegn Jena of OCFCU said his union provides social services as part of its contribution to the government and people of Ethiopia. He said the union has built 81 schools and related facilities and transferred to the government, constructed 20 clinics, provided 89 sources