Duromina Cooperative

The story

The Duromina Cooperative was established in 2010 by a group of 113 coffee producers near Agaro in the Jimma Zone of southwestern Ethiopia. The name means 'to improve their lives' or 'prosperity' in the local Afan Oromo language. The cooperative was formed to shift the region's reputation away from low-quality natural processed coffee toward high-quality washed coffee to increase farmer incomes.

Challenges

Historically, the Jimma region was synonymous with low-quality, low-priced coffee due to a lack of quality control and processing infrastructure. Farmers faced significant economic hardship despite having ideal growing conditions.

Innovations

The cooperative partnered with TechnoServe to acquire a wet mill and implement rigorous quality control, including the use of Penagos eco-pulpers and careful hand-sorting. These improvements allowed the cooperative to transition to high-quality washed processing and connect with international specialty coffee markets.