Grant for Uni to support trade in forest products and conservation in Ethiopia

Wild coffee pickers in the Bench-Sheko area of southwest Ethiopia

University of Huddersfield academics have been awarded a key grant to work with rural communities in Ethiopia, supporting conservation by developing supply chains for forest products.

Dr Matt Snell from Huddersfield Business School, part of the School of Business, Education and Law, is leading the three-and-a-half-year project which will help communities in two remote areas of southwest Ethiopia attract premium prices for their wild coffee and forest honey.

Funded by a research grant from the Jersey Overseas Aid organisation, the project will look to tackle issues that are inhibiting the development of community enterprises accessing international markets for the wild coffee in Bench-Sheko and forest honey in Anderacha.

It will focus on creating sustainable international supply chains for these forest-conserving products by introducing better quality assurance and new traceability systems as well as creating trade links between the local co-operatives and international buyers.

Dr Phil (Byongjun) Hwang, a Reader in Physical Geography within the School of Applied Sciences, and Director of the Centre for Climate Resilient Societies, leads the forest canopy and biodiversity monitoring and evaluation on this project, bringing his expertise in both in-situ survey and remote sensing technologies.

Dr Snell, a senior lecturer in Management, and part of the University’s Centre for Sustainability, Responsibility, Governance and Ethics (SURGE), explained that interested parties in the two districts which comprise 93 villages, will first receive training to enable them to bring their products up to the standard that would be required by international buyers and consumers.

Ultimately the project will demonstrate the economic value of the forest and provide a financial incentive for communities to further protect their forests and conserve biodiversity, working with nongovernmental organisations, Ethio-Wetlands Natural Resources Association and Bees for Development on the ground.

He said: “In previous projects, we have helped communities to establish the principle of participatory forest management, where communities manage the forests in return for being able to sustainably use forest resources, which helps to support conservation livelihoods.

“For both the honey and coffee there are local markets and local demand, so we are not trying to break those supply chains. On the contrary, we are trying to build on community expertise and people’s detailed knowledge of the forests.

“But what we are saying to people in these communities is, if you are willing to participate in biodiversity surveys and to have some cameras and sensors in your community, then we will provide training and introduce the co-operatives that represent you to international buyers and try to persuade them to pay a higher premium that recognises the forest-friendly credentials of the products that you harvest.

“We will support you by providing a backstory which includes photos, videos, wildlife camera images, microclimate sensors, GPS referenced sites for where the honey was collected, and the coffee was harvested.

“We have identified buyers who have said they are interested in this project with its sustainability credentials – at which point there is further incentive for these communities to conserve the natural forest while generating more income.”

The potential buyers include Moplaco in Ethiopia, Dark Woods Coffee in Huddersfield, Zoos Victoria in Australia, as well as companies that export to Europe, the US and Southeast Asia - with the first honey expected to be harvested in April and the first coffee in October.

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The funding allows the team to continue the University of Huddersfield’s long-standing work in the area, spearheaded by Professor Adrian Wood, who is acting as an advisor for this latest project.

Professor Wood, now an Emeritus Professor within the Business School’s Department of Management, has been visiting and working in Ethiopia since 1973, linking field research to teaching and advisory support for NGOs and government agencies.

Earlier projects have worked to engage these remote communities, some of the poorest forest-fringe farmers and beekeepers in the region, in forest management schemes which promote devolved responsibility – something that is being built on this time.