The Harrar region lies in the Eastern Highlands of Ethiopia. As one of the main growing regions in the original coffee country, Harrar has a reputation for producing distinctive wild-varietal Arabica as it has for centuries: dry-processed, sun-dried, and hand sorted by thousands of knowledgeable workers.

OCFCU

Many of our certified Ethiopian offerings come from Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (OCFCU), a small-farmers owned cooperative union which has members from all coffee growing areas in Oromia regional state. Established in 1999 to facilitate the direct export of coffee produced by small farmers cooperatives, OCFCU works exclusively in Oromia Regional State, which accounts for 65 percent of the country’s total coffee growing land. Oromia, along with their General Manager, Tadesse Meskela (pictured below), have been internationally recognized for their implementation of farmer support programs.

OCFCU has an excellent reputation for supporting its members and their communities. The Union pays 70% of its net profit back to the cooperatives, who in turn pay 70% of their profit to the member farmers. Farmers benefit by being paid three times in one season, allowing for greater stability. This strategy of support has enabled OCFCU to grow from 34 primary cooperatives representing 22,691 household farmers to 217 primary cooperatives representing 200,000 household farmers. OCFCU maintains a members bank to provide much needed pre-harvest financing, a major impediment for Ethiopian farmers. They also provide their

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