Group of Ethiopian farmers drying out coffee beans

Enhancing Sustainability and Increasing Coffee Incomes in Ethiopia’s Sidama Zone

Some of the highest quality coffee in the world comes from the Sidama Zone of Ethiopia, produced primarily by 200,000 smallholder farming families, most of whom continue to live in poverty due to small farm sizes and low productivity.

Beginning in 2013, TechnoServe in partnership with IDH, Nestlé and Nestlé Nespresso is working to increase the income of these farmers by increasing the supply of high-quality, sustainable produce coffee. The program has trained 83 private wet-mill operators to improve sustainability practices through the adoption of new practices including the separation of coffee pulp from waste water for composting and distribution to farmers.