Meseret Desta was born and raised in Addis Ababa. She earned her first degree in law /LLB/ and second in International Business /MBA/ from Mekelle University and Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Germany, respectively.
She has served in the construction sector in different positions since 2011. She is now the founder and CEO of Green Bean Agroprocessing PLC /Godere coffee/ and owner and general manager of specialty coffee shop ‘Afro-flavor cafe’.
She is also the Board Chairperson of the Ethiopian Women in Coffee (EWiC) Sectoral Association. The passion, the social impact, women involvement, the diversity and the great potential of Ethiopian coffee have attracted her most.
The Ethiopian Herald had a short stay with her and discussed the major activities of the association. Enjoy reading.
Herald: When was your association established? How many members do you have right away?
Meseret: Women in coffee of Ethiopia / EWiC/ was established in 2016 by a group of strong women who intend to help themselves and other women in the coffee sector and intend to win in this very competitive industry. We have about 45 members and one cooperative comprising 104 women smallholder farmers. This does not include women who are indirectly represented.
Herald: What are the major activities of the association?
Meseret: The principal activities undertaken by the association include: conducting trainings on various topics mainly on Coffee skills, marketing, communication and entrepreneurship to its members and non-members, establishing successful partnerships with institutions and development agencies to improve our services to members, increasing members’ participation in international expos and conferences, actively participating in national dialogue and policy reforms and the likes.
Similarly, we have been working towards bringing a Strong African Women in Coffee presence at the African Fine Coffees Association annual events.
During this pandemic, we have also organized two series of webinars. One of the webinars was held under the title ‘Ethiopian coffee in the global market Amidst Covid-19.
For this reason, we believe that EWiC is working beyond enabling women in the coffee sector. Thus, it is an institution that works firmly towards impacting the coffee sector in a meaningful way through collaborative efforts by engaging every stakeholder where we eventually develop a platform for a continued coffee dialogue.
Herald: How many of the members of the association are engaged in export market?
Meseret: Out of the total members of the association, close to 41 are exporters of green and value added coffee. Some 6 members are those who run and/or own local coffee shops which most of them roast their own coffee. Another 6 members do value addition and export beside the green coffee export.
Herald: Who are you working with? Can you name stakeholders?
Meseret: We are one of the 25 chapters of International Women Coffee Alliance /`IWCA/. Since its establishment, EWiC has been working in collaboration and in partnership with many national and international organizations. These include but not limited to Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority, Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), Ministry of trade and Industry, Ministry of agriculture, Feed For the Future – Ethiopia, African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA), Center for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI), International Trade Center (ITC), SCA and CQI towards the achievement of its goal ‘Empowering women in the coffee value chain’
Herald: Could you elaborate on some of the challenges that your association has been facing? How do you express government’s support to your association?
Meseret: Women entrepreneurs have been encountering a range of major challenges in amidst their journey towards being globally competitive ones. These encompass: lack of access to information, lack of access to resources, lack of proper communication skills, financial constraints and the likes. These problems have been more pronounced in the Coffee sub sector since it is the 2nd largest commodity traded globally.
As a result, we expect the Government and concerned government organizations in particular to recognize the capacity and activities of the association and women involvement in the coffee sector. Studies show that women do more than 60% of the task in the coffee value chain but not economical beneficiaries. So we request the concerned government officials to work in collaboration with the association in due course of filling the gap stated above especially on access to finance and working space.
Herald: Can you cite supports (trainings) you provide the women in general and your members in particular with, if any?
Meseret: We have been conducting various trainings that could enable members and become competitive in local and global coffee markets. The trainings most of the time focus on Coffee quality trainings, marketing and communication trainings.
Herald: What have you done so far to empower your members economically?
Meseret: We have created a platform to share information and help women know how to promote and market their products. Through the created platform and shared information of the association, some of our members have been able to get financial and non-financial support from nongovernmental organizations like CBI and USAID.
Herald: What are the best qualities of the association?
Meseret: The best qualities of the association that are presumed to be effective include: proven records in working with partnership of various institutions, the presence of committed and passionate members as well as inviting office, we have also educated and internationally certified trainers as members, and members’ interest and commitment to fill their gap and eager to contribute to the development and progress of the sector, too.