Cooperation in Ethiopia is widespread. From Coffee producing cooperatives like Oromia, to cooperative banks, worker-owned mining cooperatives, and more. There is even a government employee in each region who is a 'Cooperative Organizer', and they build connections and provide training between cooperatives.

Many different co-ops around the world have unique systems which give them a leg up over traditional business. In our time in Ethiopia we have discovered some of their cooperative innovations we'd like to share!

These two women are on the Board of Directors for one of the cooperatives in the Yirgacheffe region. Like other cooperatives, their board establishes committees that are made up of board members and other individuals. These two directors sit on the Control Committee for their co-op. What is a control committee? That's what we had to ask.

The Ethiopian Coffee industry has a long history of exploitative buyers. Before co-ops and before Fair Trade there were individuals who would go around the countryside during coffee harvest season and buy coffee from farmers. Because farmers have limited access to information and because without a cooperative they are on their own when it comes to negotiating with buyers, they were frequently scammed. Bad checks, empty buyer bank accounts, blatant lies, and the like were very common occurences that led to the formation of cooperatives. The Control Committee at this primary co-op (and all of the others we visited) is there to audit finances, insure that there is prompt and complete payment, and oversee the function of the co-op and its external contractors. This is very similar to Italy's cooperative sector where each co-op has an Audit Board that oversees the general Board of Directors and the Co-op to be sure it is functionining in a financially sound way, honestly, and transparently. Very few cooperatives in the United States have such a body.

Aside from this, Ethiopian cooperatives are innovators in other ways. Oromia and the primary cooperatives invest in training all of their farmers in sustainable and ecological farming.  Along with Ethiopia's strong tradition of no-waste, environmentally friendly agriculture this yeilds farms that are very productive in a number of ways in a very small area. For example, take a look at this picture of one of the farms we visited in profile.

The tall trees are the plants that provide shade for the farm. Beyond that, they also provide wood for building homes and furniture, as well as erosion control. Below this you can see trees that look like short banana trees. These are called 'false banana' trees and the inside of their trunk is the primary staple crop of Ethiopian coffee farmers. They bury it and it ferments (making sugars and starches) and then it is cooked. Intermingled with these are corn crops that can be sold on the market and a number of other plants – such as mint, a local variety of spinach, avocado trees, and more. This is a highly developed system of agriculture. Few systems in the western world can match the multifunction, complimentary diversity of these farmers' crops.  There is still work to be done on erosion control and more, however, and farmers and their cooperatives are working to improve their agricultural practices.

The cooperatives in this region have played to this strength by connecting farmers across the country with agriculturalists to improve their agriculture practices.

Like other countries, Ethiopia has cooperative banks. In the U.S. we call them 'Credit Unions'. In southern Ethiopia they have the Oromia Cooperative Bank (no relation to the Oromia Cooperative Coffee Union, although they work together frequently). Beyond that, there are also worker-owned credit and finance institutions. These provide loans to the primary co-ops at the start of the growing season to buy coffee cherries to plant their crops.

Beyond these two examples of innovation in the cooperative sector, there is one other super neato thing going on in Ethiopia's cooperatives: They are growing. The Oromia Cooperative Union – who Just Coffee buys from – is building a new, larger warehouse and new offices. Check 'em out.

Now we are on our way out of Ethiopia, so prepare for some news from Uganda!