Young people building something that lasts
Chefe Youth Multi-Purpose Cooperative, known as Chefe Cop, is a member-owned cooperative in Addis Ababa. We turn the energy of young people into farms, schools, homes and jobs.
Our story
Chefe Youth was founded by young people who saw talent everywhere and opportunity almost nowhere. Instead of waiting for jobs to appear, they organised: pooled savings, shared land and skills, and agreed to make decisions together.
What began as a small circle of members has grown into a multi-purpose cooperative. We grow food, raise livestock, operate schools and resorts, and are building homes for our members. Each activity supports the others, and the profits stay inside the cooperative.
We believe a cooperative is the most honest way to share prosperity. Members are owners, not customers, so the success of the whole is the success of each person.
Our mission
To strengthen collective action through agricultural value chains, practical education, skills development, financial literacy and community-centered services.
Our vision
A cooperative community in which youth and local communities can build sustainable livelihoods, participate in economic development and access inclusive opportunities.
Core values
The principles we use to decide what to do and how to do it.
Unity and cooperation
We act together, because shared effort builds more than any one person can alone.
Accountability and transparency
We answer to our members and keep our decisions and accounts open.
Inclusion and equal opportunity
Opportunity should not depend on where or to whom you were born.
Sustainability and resilience
We build for the long term, so livelihoods last through hard seasons.
Innovation and shared prosperity
We try better ways of working and share the results across the cooperative.
How and why Chefe Cop began
Chefe Cop was born out of urgency. A pressing need among young people in the community could not wait for outside help, so they acted first and organised themselves.
That emergency response became a habit of working together. Members kept meeting, saving and planning, and the cooperative grew step by step into the organisation it is today.
Chefe Cop began on29 Yekatit 2012 E.C. (8 March 2020)
Milestones since 2020
The steps that took Chefe Cop from a small circle of members to a multi-purpose cooperative.
2020
Chefe Cop is founded
A group of young people in Addis Ababa pool their savings and register the Chefe Youth Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society with 150 members and 150,000 birr of capital.
2022
Organising members
Membership grows, training in cooperative principles begins, and the first farm plots are planted.
2023
Livestock and schools
Livestock housing is built and the cooperative schools take in more children.
2024
Resorts and housing
Hospitality sites open and planning begins on homes for members.
2025
Partnerships and new shades
Formal partnership agreements are signed and new branches reach more communities.
Leadership
The cooperative is led by its President together with an elected board and management team. Leaders are chosen by members and answer to them at every general assembly.
Read the President’s story, from his early life to his education.
Become part of the story
Join the members who are building their future together.