Few of the participating farmers have more than one cow or donkey, so a reliable source of animal manure was not guaranteed. Luckily for the farmers, a just-in-time manure delivery arrives as vegetal materials are being laid out for the compost row. Regional training and support In early May, the Coop Coffee’s fund supported a week-long workshop on soils, composting, and productivity, held at the primary washing station of Fero Cooperative near Yirgalem, located in the Sidama zone of Ethiopia. The event was attended by small-scale and organic coffee producers from Fero, Telamo, Taramesa, and Shilicho cooperatives, all members of the Sidama Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (SCFCU), representing a total of 82,000 coffee farmer families organized in 56 community-based co-operatives across their region. To demonstrate and provide technical support for an alternative composting model, Coop Coffees partnered with Soil & More Ethiopia. As part of the workshop, Soil & More provided training on windrow composting, a high-yield method of composting where organic waste is laid into long rows. The rows are turned periodically to keep them aerated, allowing oxygen flow and heat propagation that reduces pathogens and neutralizes weeds. Soil & More has proven its practices at its test site, a 25-hectare former landfill, which—after nearly four years of intensive compost production (some 227,000 tonnes annually) and application in their trial fields and tree rows—has resulted in astonishing levels of soil regeneration and crop productivity. “Soil & More is a magical fit for us and this project work,” says Kevin Walters of Alternative Grounds. “[Their] teaching method absolutely captivated the workshop participants and [their] enthusiasm for compost is contagious. I feel privileged to witness the power of that work and to be a part of this cooperative initiative.” The primary objectives of this firstof-its-kind workshop in the Sidama Region included hands-on learning, a shared understanding about the necessary life in healthy soil, the onsite construction of a compost windrow, and the eventual application of regenerative organic farming practices in farmers’ fields. A new turn for Sidama Ethiopian farmers encounter challenges at every step in their work. A lack of reliable technical information, inadequate tools, and insufficient basic materials and supplies, make the prospects of widespread and effective composting seem almost insurmountable. For example, compost fleece—a basic, but very particular fabric designed to control the humidity of unprotected compost piles—is all but impossible to source in the country. Sold in enormous rolls in Quebec and in Europe, Coop Coffees sourced as much of this material as possible. And now, just one short workshop later, things look quite different for the farmers. Having identified an incredible local source of information and innovation with Soil & More, with 30 recently-converted composting disciples, and with some 40 metres of remaining compost fleece on site—and clean barrels, shovels, and vegetation shredding tools en route—a composting wave is poised to wash across the SCFCU region of influence in Sidama. Compost fleece is a basic, but very particular fabric designed to control the humidity of unprotected compost piles exposed to heat evaporation and waterlogging from rain. It’s almost impossible to source in Ethiopia. Coop Coffees managed to source enough compost fleece to supply the workshop, while leaving surplus for seasons to come. 16 | FAIR TRADE MAGAZINE • CANADA’S VOICE FOR SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY Monika Firl is director of sustainability at Coop Coffees.
a Breakfast that Cares NuTerraCereal.com ( in Québec retailers only ) CFTN.CA | 17
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