| Impact, special achievements & commitments | | | Teppi Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Union (TCFCU) was established in Sep, 2005 by 4 founding primary cooperatives members (PCs) with a share capital of 160,000 ETB. It operates in Sheka Zone, South West region of Ethiopia. The union was established to market the coffee of member primary cooperatives and to provide inputs and other household necessities. The members of the founding PCs were initially composed of 15 % women and the rest being male households and totaled 2,024. Currently. Male households are 5238 and Female 1345 making it 6583 households in total. The union has 26 primary coffee cooperatives affiliated to it from three woredas/districts of Sheka Zone of Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR). Six member cooperatives were certified EU/EOS organic, Naturland and Fair for Life (FFL) since 2016. They produce wild forest coffee from Sheka Bio-sphere forest reserves. Since certification of the forest coffee in 2017, the union has received its first sales premium funds for community based projects which will be shared proportionally among the 6 cooperatives according to the volumes they sold. The projects will be identified by the community themselves and implemented by a committee chosen by the individual cooperative’s general assembly. |