As coffee value chains increasingly experiment with digital payments, the voices of farmers themselves are essential to understanding whether these shifts are delivering real benefits on the ground.
In Ethiopia, access to formal banking has expanded in recent years, but remains relatively nascent and uneven — particularly in rural areas, where physical distance, digital literacy, and infrastructure gaps continue to limit meaningful financial inclusion. Against this backdrop, six cooperatives within the Oromia Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Union (OCFCU) piloted a transition from cash payments to direct bank transfers during the 2024 coffee season. To understand how this change was experienced by farmers, 60 Decibels conducted phone interviews with 254 coffee farmers who received their most recent coffee payments via bank transfer.
We learnt what is working well, where challenges remain, and what matters most to them as payment systems continue to evolve.
Although farmers only started receiving coffee payments from their cooperatives via bank transfers in the last season (in 2024), most have been familiar with the system for years — with a typical account tenure of five years. 7 in 10 report being ‘very confident’ using their bank accounts, and ‘never’ require help with withdrawing cash. Beyond receiving coffee payments and making transfers, 85% of farmers say they use their bank accounts to save cash, highlighting savings as a key use case.
In addition to bank accounts, most farmers report having access to a mobile money account, but only 6 in 10 report actively using it in the last 30 days. Typical use cases include transferring money to friends and family, cash withdrawal, and airtime top-ups.
Farmers typically report receiving their coffee payments within 2.5 weeks of sale and expect to receive them within about 2 weeks, showing close alignment between experience and expectations. In fact, 75% of farmers rate the payment timeliness from their cooperatives as ‘very good’ or ‘good’. Interestingly, 43% expect their payment within four weeks or more, suggesting that cooperatives have likely set clear and realistic expectations around payment schedules. Nearly all farmers report receiving notification of their payment via SMS. Under the previous cash-based system, payments typically took three weeks or more on average, making current timelines broadly acceptable to most farmers.
Among the 9 in 10 who reflected positively on their most recent payment experience, timely payments (65%) were the main driver of satisfaction—followed by reliable and safe systems (33%) and the cooperatives’ continued efforts to improve payment processes (17%).
The median payment received by farmers for coffee via bank transfers is USD 1,318, with amounts varying by the volume sold—a typical farmer reported selling about 2,000 kg of raw cherries during the last season (2024). Despite some variation in payment amounts, 81% of farmers said they received exactly what they expected, reflecting strong clarity around guaranteed payments.
Farmers typically withdraw cash 4 times in a month from their nearest bank branch – 30 minutes away from their homes, with a 15-minute wait time at the branch. Most incur a minor transportation cost to cash-out their coffee payments. However, nearly all farmers report no deductions on their cash-outs, which is a key benefit of the payment method, enabling a smoother process for accessing funds.
82% of farmers say report bank transfers as their preferred payment mode for future seasons, with 12% indicating an appetite for mobile money.
The safety and security of transactions is the top driver of this preference. However, speed also appears to influence choice as farmers who value quickness of payments are significantly more likely to prefer bank transfers (87% vs. 72%). By contrast, those who prioritize convenience are more inclined toward mobile money (39% vs. 7%)
Given that many farmers were already tenured bank account users before coffee payments were digitized, their continued preference for bank transfers likely reflects both familiarity and trust in the system.
14% of farmers report a challenge with bank transfers. Within this group, payment delays is reported as the top issue. However, the efficiency of the banking infrastructure could affect the seamlessness of their overall experience. In addition to delays, some farmers talk about cash shortages at bank during withdrawal or system/network issues during cash-outs.
Among farmers who offered specific suggestions on how to improve their payment experience in upcoming seasons, many emphasised the need for access to more bank branches, improved cash availability at the bank, and more reliable banking networks, highlighting how local infrastructure plays a critical role in shaping the overall payment experience.
Farmers’ feedback from Oromia offers a clear view of how digital payments are working in practice. For most, bank transfers are familiar, trusted, and preferred — valued for their security, transparency, and generally reliable payment timelines. At the same time, challenges linked to banking infrastructure, cash availability, and network reliability continue to shape the experience for a minority of farmers.
These insights underline a simple point: digital payments deliver the most value when they are dependable and aligned with farmers’ day-to-day realities. Listening directly to farmers helps clarify where progress has been made, and where further improvements will matter most as digital payments continue to scale across coffee value chains.
