Nagare Espresso: Chelichele | Ethiopia

More about Chelichele & Ephtah Coffee:

This coffee was grown and harvested by farmers based around the Chelichele area in the Gedeb woreda of Gedeo Zone in South Ethiopia Regional State. As is common in Ethiopia, farmers sell their harvested coffee cherry to a centralised processing station, in this case the Chelichele site owned by Tamiru Amare and partnering with Ephtah Speciality Coffee. Ephtah, led by Wubit Bekele, is a progressive exporter committed to building collaborative supply chains for the benefit of their customers as well as farmers and their communities. The company emphasizes promoting the role of women in coffee and their pivotal role in driving social and economic change in Ethiopia. Ephtah not only ensures quality at every stage of the shipment process but also provides vital support like financing, technical and social assistance (such as day care) to their partners and growers.

Ephtah is a community focused exporter committed to delivering outstanding quality coffee whilst improving the lives  within their communities, with particular focus on promoting the role of women as being the main drivers of positive social and economic change in Ethiopia.

As Ephtah explains:

Ephtah Specialty Coffee was established to build sustainable collaborative supply chains for the benefit of our customers, farmers, and their wider communities. We take a specific interest in promoting the role of women within our industry, as we see women as being the main driver of positive social and economic change in Ethiopia.

The majority of low paying seasonal labour is provided by women but very few farms are women owned. In addition, those farms are often less productive as women have less access to resources – primarily inputs, finance, and training. Our approach has two main pillars:

1. Providing women with the skills and knowledge to enhance economic empowerment - Ephtah provides training programs around production and quality analysis to help improve women’s knowledge and confidence. This often leads to an improvement in their access to finance which can lead to dramatic improvements in their standard of living.

2. Strengthening women’s voice and participation in decision making and leadership - Ephtah helps to create safe spaces for women in the communities we source from. We collaborate with local groups to encourage women in the community to become involved in local decision-making processes and leadership positions. Ephtah further supports women through the AMA Commitment with initiative including diversifying sources of income and running daycare centre for growers’ children during harvest time.