Lot 53: The Araku Cooperative

Village Gondhi Rapa has many accolades to its name. It won the title of ‘Most improved village’ in Gems of Araku 2018 and ‘Best farmer practices’ in Gems of Araku 2019. This year, it has been shortlisted in the top 5 villages category.

Among this is 36-year-old Dobetti Lakshmi. A board member of MACS, Lakshmi and her husband Demudu have played a key role in mobilising the community and guiding them on good farming practices. Through MACS, all regenerative agriculture practices are disseminated and the resulting quality in the coffee cup inevitably emerges. Gondhirapa coffee is a testimony to this uniform quality.

In 2007, Naandi Foundation collaborated with farmers to form an independent cooperative, known as Small and Marginal Tribal Farmers Mutually Aided Cooperative Society (SAMTFMACS, commonly known as MACS). Today, MACS works in 524 villages and is one of the world’s largest organic, fair-trade certified coffee cooperatives, comprising of 11,000+ farmer families, each with a small land holding of 1-2 acres. MACS has been crucial in aggregating farmers by giving them shared value and access to global markets.