Feature Filter: Duromina | Ethiopia

More about Duromina & Kata Muduga Farmers’ Union:

“Duromina" is a word from the Afan Oromo language meaning a blessing to succeed or to become wealthy. Duromina is now a very well established cooperative in the Gomma district of Jimma Zone of Limu region. While many coffee buyers now recognise it for being one of the best in Western Ethiopia. It wasn't always the case. Coffee has grown wild in the region for centuries and people lives tied to it for generations. Unfortunately the region suffered when in the 70s the harvests and quality was severely impacted by the coffee berry diseases making majority of the crop deemed unfit for export.

With the help from the non-profit organisation Technoserve, Duromina was set up in 2010 when 113 farmers got together to form a cooperative with the common goal to improve producers’ livelihood through sales of quality coffee. Many farmers replaced their diseased trees with fresh seedlings. Everyone was trained on on the requirements of specialty coffee and learned the best way to plant, tend, and harvest their coffee trees. Soon after, the cooperative set up their first washing station and started processing their first harvest with excellent results. Fast forward, Duromina now operates three wet mills and provides income to over 300 farmer families. The cooperative is part of the Kata Muduga Union, which provides transparent storage, milling and export services, optimising value for producers.

Kata Muduga is a an umbrella organization for Cooperatives in the Jimma Area and provides marketing and administrative services to them. The Union sells and exports the Cooperatives’ coffees on their behalf. However, Kata Muduga doesn't take position on the coffees and sells them under its own name but rather acts as a sales agent. We decided to work with Kata Muduga because of the great potential of the Limu area but also because of its self-understanding as a transparently working service provider. 90% of the final FOB price is returned to the producer. 5% are linked to actual transport and warehousing costs and 5% cover the operational costs of Kata Muduga.