Sustainability performance of smallholder specialty coffee business from the perspectives of producers’ resilience: Evidence from southwestern Oromia, Ethiopia

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the sustainability performance of the smallholder specialty coffee business from the perspectives of producers’ resilience in southwestern Oromia, Ethiopia. The study employed a descriptive-exploratory, mixed method cross sectional survey design. Systematic random and purposive sampling techniques were employed to select the sample of 381 respondents. Key informant interviews and scheduled questionnaires were used to collect data. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used for data analysis. The study revealed that, among the mechanisms used by the smallholder specialty coffee producers to cope with food shortages, sales of livestock made the largest contribution (48.9%), followed by the production of food crops at 22.6%. Besides, it was found that asset ownership (β = 0.416, p < 0.01), sustainable environmental conditions and practices (β = 0.455, p < 0.01), access to social basic services (β = 0.310, p < 0.01), and access to social financial support mechanisms (β = 0.307, p < 0.01), were significantly and positively related to the resilience of the smallholder specialty coffee business. The results highlight that coffee producers' resilience was influenced by a combination of assets, sustainable environment, social basic services, and social financial support systems. Therefore, providing training on the benefits of diversification in livestock and crop production, saving (cash and in-kind), and investingin climate-resilient coffee production practices, such as shade coffee, would practically enhance coffee producers’ resilience.