Kercha.

Farm : Kercha
Producer : Israel Degfa
Soil Type : deep sandy loam
Humidity : 55-70%

Facts About Kercha

Kercha woreda belongs to the Oromia region of Ethiopia. Part of the Borena Zone, Kercha was bordered on the south by the Dawa River which separates it from Arero, on the southwest by Yabelo, on the west by the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region and Gelana Abaya, the northeast by Uraga, and on the east by Odo Shakiso.

Kercha has attained self-sufficiency in agriculture with coffee being a major crop. Many farmers in this area are debilitated by the lack of access to the market, with the majority of the zone being a full day’s drive from the nearest trading centres. The cherries are often ruined in transit, or commodified and blended into lower grades because of the difficult geography, and one way or another rarely gets a fair showing in the market.

Realising the opportunity Israel Degfa established the Kercha processing site under Kerchanshe PLC in 2016. Under the processing site, the farms are certified by RA/UTZ, organic and fair-trade standards.

Sustainability and Biodiversity

Israel Degefa and his team are organized the coffee producers (farmers) under kercha processing site and certified their farms by RA/UTZ, organic and fair trade standards. Based on the certification requirements he awards (provides) the following core points for the community and for the environment. He creates Long term economic viability of the society, Implement sustainable working practices and procedures of coffee production, improve skills and change the life style of employment and society at all levels, Enhance the implementation of safe working practices to maintain the well being of the work force, create Continuous and responsible management of the environment, Maintain consumer confidence in coffee quality, Minimize detrimental impact on environment, whilst conserving nature and wildlife and Improve the efficiency of the use of natural resources, worker health and safety and he fulfils his responsibilities to the local society, and there is lots of evidence for this in his business. He did the structure and the healthy working conditions for the coffee and the workers. Also Israel is driving the workers back to town after their shift, supporting the local school, lending money to farmers through the difficult times between harvests, building a new bridge, distributing vigour coffee seedling and repairing infrastructure of the area, and helping kercha to be a productive and positive place to live and work.