Our collaboration with Gidhe and the Limmu Kossa estate is quite unique. Whereas most of Ethiopia’s coffee is cultivated by smallholders who are tied to cooperative unions, we chose to work in a value chain where we can follow the money and work directly with trusted partners to make impact.
Gidhe is respected by the locals for the care shown in his dealings with his employees and the surrounding villagers. They call him “Abba Ollie” or the “neighbour father”, a sign of reverence in Oromo culture, especially because Gidhe himself is not Oromo himself. The main areas of impact for Limmu Kossa lie in providing employment through their coffee estate and in conserving some of the most lush and biodiverse - native - coffee lands This Side Up has in its portfolio. The farm operates much like a cooperative, in that it involves workers and the village community in its business decisions, creating a feeling of shared success and failure among stakeholders. They also work with independent farmers by helping them gain market access and providing loans and technical assistance.
GIDHE BERHE
““The primary impact we have created at Limmu Kosa is providing an income for the farmers who work with us at the estate. Additionally, we have been able to create positive change for the farmers around us by encouraging them to modernize their harvesting methods for improved yields and higher income. We also offer technical support to help bring these ideas to fruition. I continue to invest in local infrastructure, including schools, roads, and religious monuments.”
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Achievements so far: The quality of life has improved and is obvious through different examples. Many families in Galeh have corrugated sheets on their roofs that they made from increased coffee income. Many farmers own motorbikes that they use to commute, which is why Gidhe had the roads paved up to 12 KMS between market and the farms. This is an important milestone because better roads allow for the quality of coffee to deteriorate less compared to taking cherries and parchment on horseback like before. At Sheka, this reality still persists, however.
2023 update: Continued offering agronomical support for the smallholder farmer in the community. These are received by independent smallholders in the area (also working in Limmu Kossa estate) for modernising their production techniques and put them on a path to higher incomes. This step also empowers the community directly to take better ownership of their lives.
What the future holds: Goals that Gidhe and the community specified are to invest in improving local infrastructure (better housing, toilets , healthcare). Get more children to attend school, build capacities for accommodating older children at high school level. Better infratstructure at Sheka estate.
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2023 Updates : They started working with local smallholder farmers in the locale, now 50 of them in Galeh to provide coffee seeds and technical assistance
What the future holds : Renovate the Limmu Kossa estate through stamping and regenerate the older trees. Proliferate climate resistant species, work on reducing water usage and working on taking care of the soil. Improving market access for these new varieties.
