East Timor Producer Profile

NAME: Cooperativa Cafe Timor (CCT)
ESTABLISHED: 2000
FAIRTRADE CERTIFIED: since 2001
MEMBERS: 23,000

In 2000, a group of farmers united to form CCT after East Timor’s independence referendum in 1999 and the destruction that followed. Today, the organisation has 23,000 members from 16 base cooperatives and 494 small-scale farmer groups. Positive results from these collective efforts are already being seen in the countryside. Cafe Timor is the only independent producer of wet-milled coffee, which significantly increases its quality and market value.

Photos from the Co-operative

Area/Region

East Timor coffee production is small in the global coffee context, producing less than 1% of the international total. Nevertheless, coffee is crucial to the country’s overall economy. It is the most important source of foreign exchange for East Timor and it serves as the primary source of income for about one-fourth of the country’s population, or some 44,000 families.

Maubisse is one of the two coffee growing regions. East Timor has some rugged terrain and a very hot climate. Coffee is always grown under shade, the only way the plants would survive. Coffee is grown on small plots, in primitive and nearly wild state. Maubisse Region / Ainaro District in in the southwest part of the country.

Use of the Fairtrade Premium

Revenue from the Fairtrade Premium has been invested to improve the working and living conditions of farmers and their families and invested in the diversification of local income earning opportunities:

• A healthcare program that includes nine stationary health clinics and 24 mobile health clinics. The clinics see an average of 18,000 patients per month. Services are provided free of charge to all co-op members
• A business skills development program that provides members with training in bookkeeping, management, English language, and computer skills
• A wholesale purchasing co-op that benefits the local community by providing consumer goods at reasonable prices to small retail outlets in rural areas. To date, this project has assisted over 3,000 members and their families
• Equipment upgrades and purchases, including six de-pulping machines and eight fermentation vats

Sources: http://www.fta.org.au/producer-info/meet-producers/-coffee

Products Produced by this Co-op