When Adugna Feye first decided to start growing coffee in 2010, he was simply looking for a way to feed his family. After participating in a TechnoServe coffee program, he increased his income 15-fold, allowing him to not only comfortably feed his family, but invest in his children’s education, his farm, and the future.
In this series, we check back with TechnoServe program participants who were previously featured on our blog, documenting how their lives have changed and progressed.
In 2012, Lubaba Mekonnen, a single parent of two, joined a TechnoServe program that was working with coffee farmers in her community. At the time, she had no regular source of income and was struggling to support her family. Today, her income has increased by 200%, her coffee farm is flourishing, and her son is getting ready to attend university next year.
In Ethiopia, wild coffee thrives under dense forest canopies. Since 2018, TechnoServe has been working with Partnerships for Forests to support the farmers who grow this coffee, and the diverse habitats they rely on for their livelihoods.
In part two of our weeklong series, we highlight our work promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment throughout the coffee value chain.
In part one of our weeklong series, we highlight the ways that training and market connections have created lasting income improvements for small coffee farmers around the world.
Over 15 million Ethiopians rely on coffee for their livelihoods. This is one of their stories.
"Ask a TechnoServe Expert" is a new series where our staff members, who work on a range of important global development issues, answer your questions. In this edition, Ethiopia Country Director Mefthe Tadesse answered your questions on climate resilience.
As greater traceability and ever-growing consumer interest in coffee origins increase the incentives for sustainable production, more opportunities to align profits and sustainability will emerge. If we are innovative and approach problems from a business perspective, we can help the supply chain grow even greener.
Since 2006, TechnoServe and Nespresso have worked together to develop sustainable coffee supply chains around the world. This Earth Day, TechnoServe CEO Will Warshauer and Nespresso CEO Jean-Marc Duvoisin discuss how this partnership is helping smallholder coffee farmers build resilience to the growing threats of climate change.
