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The history of coffee as a cultural staple in Ethiopia has mythological and socio-economic roots that pre-date its written history there. Ceremonial coffee-drinking tradition clarifies coffee’s sacred role in Ethiopian society, which has also, at times, prompted resistance to its commoditization. While Ethiopia is considered one of the top Arabica-producing countries in the world, the coffee industry there is relatively young and domestic consumption is estimated at 50% of production.

In the early 20th century, when Ethiopia’s commercial coffee trade was still quite new, the coffee agricultural industry was put primarily in the hands of large landowners in exchange for concessions to the country’s leadership in developing local political infrastructure. Over time this contributed to an enormous imbalance in the distribution of wealth leading to economic frailty and social destabilization. Periods of violence and famine were facilitated and amplified by political cover-ups, institutional apathy, and a catastrophic lack of civil infrastructure.

At the end of the 20th Century, through social and civil revolution, the land in Ethiopia was redistributed and now 95% of Ethiopian coffee is farmed by smallholder farmers on 2 hectares or less. During this time, an auction system emerged and while transparent supply chains were possible, they were widely seen as corrupt.

In 2008, the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) was established to clean up and strengthen the auction model. Originally designed to combat famine by stabilizing the economy and facilitating resource distribution, coffee was quickly included in the list of commodities that were required to pass through the ECX. Over time, the ECX has opened up more and more until, in recent years, importers and coffee buyers have again been able to start working directly with producers.

Jimma is a mountainous area of the Oromia Region that produces over 20% of Oromia’s coffee output and accounts for over 10% of the coffee produced in all of Ethiopia, making it one of the top coffee-producing zones in the nation.

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Joe has purchased coffee from Artisan Coffee Imports since 2018. Ruth Ann, founder of Artisan Coffee Imports, began her connection to East Africa through an economic research project in Rwanda that led her to believe the coffee sector had the power to radically transform the local economy. The team which Ruth Ann was part of compiled interviews and comprehensive data into published research which helped the Rwandan government decide to raise the national floor price for coffee cherry for smallholder farmers the following year. In Rwanda, the national floor price is open to fluctuations every year, so the victory was short-lived on a national scale. But the experience gave Artisan Coffee Imports the foundation to commit to sustainable prices so coffee farmers can reach their potential as catalysts for economic, environmental, and social development.

Artisan Coffee Imports began purchasing coffee from women producers in Ethiopia a few years ago, and has been able to share with us about the coffee landscape in Ethiopia in ways that feel transparent and inspirational. When asking Ruth Ann about the learning journey to better understand the gender landscape in Ethiopia, she had a few things to share:

“The main thing I've (re) learned is the age-old truth that every country is different! My impression is (purely my opinion, too - not to be mistaken as facts!) Ethiopia has a less "gender-balanced" leadership class than Rwanda, (for those who don't know, Rwanda's parliament was the first country in the world with a female majority in parliament, currently at 61.3% for the Lower House and 38.5% for the Upper House. A 33% minimum for female participants is in their constitution for every level of government down to the district level.) Perhaps therefore it's not surprising that concepts of creating, supporting and marketing coffee grown by women are not very far along in Ethiopia. In the early years, 2019 - 2021, I was asking Ethiopian exporters if they knew of groups of female farmers anywhere and I was getting blank stares. I became hyper-tuned to anyone working with women's groups and persisted in asking all the exporters eager to talk to me. I found Fahem, a private exporter that has formed and is marketing the women's coffee from the kebele of Atnago in Limu. 🎉

Ethiopian women-owned farms are less likely to offer washed coffee because washed coffee requires more capital. For a long time I couldn't figure out why so many of the women-owned farms did not offer a washed coffee. Then I learned (because I asked), to produce high quality washed coffee, you need capital to build, staff and properly maintain a washing station. It's the start-up capital for the initial build that most women owners are lacking. Limu Seka Atnago is therefore a "doubly" unique find. They are a women's group with a partnership to Fahem Trading, a group that's well-funded enough to own and operate a washing station in their area.

I still tell and re-tell the story of how the IWCA chapter in Ethiopia came to be to help "outsiders" understand the Ethiopian gender equity landscape. It was such a struggle and that struggle is a great illustration of how smart and persistent Ethiopian women are. As we all know, Ethiopia calls itself the birthplace of coffee, and indeed the birthplace of humanity. Yet in 2011, the idea of a group of women leading a non-profit without a single male on the board was unthinkable. But that's what IWCA leaders wanted to do. They wanted to help a group of IWCA coffee exporters and producers create a non-profit in Addis Ababa that was officially licensed as an Ethiopian non-profit organization. It would take 5 years. AND, before it was finally done in 2016, the wife of the then Ethiopian president had to be pulled into the action. One of Ethiopia's national laws had to be changed in order for a non-profit to exist without one single male on the governing board. The wife of the president leaned on her husband, who leaned on the legislature, and eventually was able to change the law of the land. My understanding is it was only a few months later that the Ethiopian WCA chapter was among the first if not the first legal Ethiopian non-profit with all female leadership.”

The Atnago cooperative of women was founded in 2014, though the group of farmers within the coop have been growing coffee for over 30 years. They have only organized to segregate, process, and market their coffee for the last 10 years. Through support by exporter Fahem, the farmers also receive technical assistance by agronomists who have been assigned specifically to them, as well as training and awareness building of topics related to child labor, forced labor, discrimination, and harassment. As holders of a Rainforest Alliance certificate, they also have female representatives on committees for Assess and Address, Gender Awareness, and Grievances. Fahem is responsible for purchasing the coffee directly from the farmers, as well as paying a separate “dividend” payment each year. Additionally, over the last 10 years, the group has been able to pay for two flour mills and one elementary school in their community. The group is working on addressing the challenges the farmers share to be able to maximize their yield. These include increased farm tools (matchet, hoe, pruning saw, pruning shear, flat file and coffee cherry drying mesh wire), access to finance (for school fees, students’ uniforms, and learning materials), and reducing the time required for domestic responsibilities that compete with coffee farming (such as collecting water and fire wood far away from where they live).

We are very grateful for the opportunity to better understand how gender equity looks differently in different places. For us at Joe, when it comes to these complex and far-reaching issues, we feel the responsibility to both educate and be educated ourselves. It’s important for us to rely on strong logistics partners to give us context for their work and insight into what sustainability looks like for all parties in a supply stream. In order for all of us to be strong and thrive, we rely on open communication so we can collectively learn how to be the best business partners we can be. The result keeps us accountable to each other and our shared future. Because of their commitment to transparency and active partnership, we choose to partner with Artisan Coffee Imports for many years to come.