Timor-Leste's President Xanana Gusmao and Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri opened one of the world's largest wet-processing coffee factories recently in Estado, Timor-Leste. The factory is owned and operated by Cooperativa Cafe Timor (CCT), Timor-Leste's largest cooperative, with some 20,000 farmer members.

The Estado factory takes in fresh coffee cherries, bought by CCT from farmers' cooperative groups in the highland areas of Ermera District. As the cherries move through the factory, they are washed, pulped, fermented, and readied for drying. Expanded production capacity at both the Estado and Maubisse factories means that CCT will be able to buy about 25,000 metric tons of coffee cherries in 2004, twice as much as last year.

The coffee harvest begins in May and lasts until August. During the season, CCT is Timor-Leste's largest employer, providing more than 3,000 jobs in transportation, factory operations, drying, processing, and sorting coffee. The process of hand sorting the beans lasts longer than the harvest and offers much sought-after jobs to 700 Timorese women.

CCT is the world's largest producer and seller of certified organic coffee. With a reputation for consistent quality built up over the past 10 years, CCT's Timor-Leste organic and FairTrade arabica coffee commands a premium price on the international market. As a specialty coffee, it earns about $4.4m more than it would as the typical grade of Timor-Leste coffee sold by other producers.

CCT members see other benefits in addition the premium price for their coffee crop. CCT operates rural health clinics that provide primary medical care, its farmers receive free mulch made from coffee husks, and CCT's extension service gives farmers shade tree seedlings to replace the old coffee shade trees now falling victim to storms and pests.

USAID supports CCT through its partnership with the US-based National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA), a not-for-profit federation of cooperatives. NCBA helps CCT manage its diverse activities, including coffee production and export, cattle fattening projects, tree nurseries, vanilla production, small business training, and a network of primary health clinics. USAID's support helps CCT expand Timor-Leste's agricultural base, increase its high-value exports, boost economic activity, and generate income among its farm families.