Established in 1983, the Itumpi Cooperative is located in southern Tanzania, in the Songwe re- gion, west of Mbeya. Like many coffee cooperatives, Itumpi collects other grain crops ,such as maize. Farmers handpick the coffee cherries and proceed with a first sorting to remove unripe and

overripe cherries, as well as foreign objects. After being delivered to the wet mill, where they go through a second sorting, cherries ferment in soak pits for up to 72 hours before drying on raised beds for an average of nine to twelve days.

Coffee growing has a long history in the re- gion, where most farmers inhertired their farms and knowledge from their parents and grand- parents. In the recent years, the Itumpi coop- erative has been following a new strategy to improve the quality of their coffee. They start- ed some rehabilitation work on its wet mill fa- cilities and are also investing in training their farmers. Our sister company in Tanzania has been supporting them through technical coffee processing training, as well as coffee growing advices from the Volcafe Way program.