Lidiya Tadesse

Ethiopian coffee cooperative leader who empowered rural women through fair trade practices and climate-resilient farming.

Lidiya Tadesse is a transformative figure in Ethiopia's coffee industry, founder of the Kahawa Chandie Cooperative in 2017. Starting with just 200 women farmers, she built a network that now includes 5,000 members across Ethiopia's Oromia region. Her cooperative uses direct trade practices to secure 30% higher prices for farmers, while implementing drought-resistant coffee varieties through partnerships with CIAT researchers.

Tadesse pioneered the Coffee4Climate initiative in 2021, introducing agroforestry techniques that doubled soil moisture retention in arid regions. This program has been adopted by 150+ cooperatives across East Africa. Her work was highlighted in the 2022 documentary "Brewing Change: Ethiopia's Coffee Revolution" on Netflix, showcasing how women are leading climate adaptation efforts in agriculture.

In 2023, she launched the Ethiopian Women Coffee Fund, providing microloans for female entrepreneurs to establish roasting facilities. This initiative has created over 200 new businesses, reducing migration to cities by 40% in participating communities. Tadesse's TEDx talk "Roasting Inequality Out of Coffee" has become a blueprint for gender-equal agricultural systems in developing nations.