In collaboration with the Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain Activity, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded a 6-year program to help strengthen the coffee value chain and scale the progress of the Ethiopian specialty coffee market.
Starting in early 2019, over 50 candidates were selected for the program to receive investment vehicles for local infrastructure development of value-added micro mill coffee processing sites. The key objective of the initiative is to increase the income of coffee farming households by establishing micro mills for processing specialty grade lots. Additional value was captured through increased quality, greater differentiation, and higher levels of traceability to specific communities and producer groups.
The multi-year implementation included all aspects of the processing equipment procurement, site design, beneficiary selection, construction, and training.