Beker Mohammed is a coffee farmer in the Harrar region of eastern Ethiopia. His sole income comes from the sale of his coffee but the payment he has traditionally received is very low. Beker has four children, three of school age, but each of these children has missed years out of school – there just hasn’t been enough money available to keep them in class in years when the cost of schooling exceeds the family budget. This year, all of his children are in school. Beker now sells a proportion of his coffee harvest at fair trade price – which is currently more than double the payment he is used to receiving from other traders - to Oromia Coffee Farmers Co-operative Union, which in turn supplies Trade Aid. If the co-operative makes any profits this year from coffee sales, all its members will receive an additional bonus payment as well. As well as putting more money directly into Beker’s pocket, Trade Aid also pays a social premium which is used by his co-operative to finance projects that will benefit everyone in his community; currently, they’re building four new classrooms so that even more children in the area will have a chance to get an education. Future plans include a medical centre and an improved water supply. Currently, water (which is not even clean, but tea-coloured) must be collected in a six-hour round trip. When asked what hopes he has for his children in the future, Beker’s eyes brighten: he hopes that one may become a water expert who can work out a way to provide clean water for their village.

Beker Mohammed Coffee Farmer Children in school in Harrar