Yirgacheffe Gedeb Bedhatu Jibicho

Bedhatu Jibicho is one such coffee farmer, and a native to the Worka region of Gedeb. At over 80 years old, she might be the most experienced having co-managed (with her late husband) the 23-hectare plot of government-allotted farmland since the 1960s. Her family continues to work the farm, especially aided recently by her son Tesfaye Roba. They have plans to use the premiums for their harvest to expand the farm and startup an export business.

Originally part of the Worka cooperative, Mrs. Jibicho joined the Banko Gotiti cooperative when it opened in 2013. Though much smaller, Banko Gotiti was much closer to her farm. That same year, her farm was recognized as a community model, and she took specialty coffee preparation training which enabled her harvest to be separated and sold traceably through the YCFCU (the umbrella Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union covering coops in the Gedeo Zone).