Beanology

YCFCU Konga is the primary cooperative for YCFCU, with 2,372 producers, contributing to 16 containers' worth of annual production. The average YCFCU co-op farmer owns and grows on just 0.7 hectares, which is why it takes so many producers to accumulate a relatively small amount of coffee (considering).

This coffee was fermented for 48 to 72 hours before being pre-dried for one day, then fully dried for 8 to 13 days.

The four localities (kebele) of YCFCU Konga include: Wote, Seda, Birbis, and Kella.

The YCFCU was organized in 2002 in an effort to establish stability amidst fluctuating coffee prices. Recognized under the national labor union, the YCFCU represents 43,794 farmers over six districts, including Yirgacheffe, Gedeb, Wanago, Dilla Zuria, Bule, and Kochere.

Shortly after this the Ethiopian government, in support of small producers, added coffee into the Ethiopian Commodities Exchange (ECX). This would allow, amongst many things, for farmers to get paid in a timely manner. The nature of exchanges is to homogenize a product and sell it at a market price hence it doesn’t allow for premiums to be paid for a superior product. With this we saw a decline in quality.

Cooperatives, like Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU), are exempt from going through the ECX. We are working alongside YCFCU to pay premiums for better cherry selection at the washing station level to bring back the classic Yirgacheffe profile that was obscured for some years.

The video above is from YCFCU Konga, the primary cooperative of the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union.

From yirgacheffeunion.com:

The Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperatives Union (YCFCU), currently represents over 43,794 farmers belonging to more than 300,000 families, and was established in June 2002. Its currently 23 member cooperatives are all located in Gedeo, southern Ethiopia. This area is in a region that is famous for coffee growing in the country.The 62,004 hectares gardens that are dedicated to coffee alone, on average produce 9,000 tons of Yirgacheffe and 3,000 tons of Sidama washed coffee each year. The area also produces 24,000 tons of sun-dried coffee annually.

The Ethiopian traditional coffee growing method is mainly manifested among the Yirgacheffe coffee-growing farmers. While the protection and handling of the coffee is carried out on a manual basis, the development is done with the use of natural fertilizers. Pests are controlled by biological natural means. In this manner, the development work is done through the application of the age-old cultural traditional means, rather than the artificial modern pest, insect, and weed control by chemical and fertilizers.