Ethiopia

Ethiopia is one of the most intriguing coffee countries we work in. The rich culture and history of the Ethiopian people lead to a complex mosaic of impressions across the country, where traveling is a true privilege.

The sheer scale of Ethiopia is difficult to comprehend; it is the second most populous country in Africa, and the world’s most populous landlocked country, leading to a wide and varied tapestry of ancient rural cultures. These have been maintained almost like a picture in time, due to Ethiopia’s status as one of the only countries in Africa which was never officially colonised.

While the capital Addis Ababa is generally safe, civil unrest between Ethiopia’s many ethnic groups has become a factor, especially since 2018, including the war in Tigray between 2020 and 2022. This has also affected coffee regions, for example delaying last year’s harvest in Guji due to ongoing unrest.

Through all of this, Ethiopia continues to produce excellent coffee, a testament to the resilient and hard-working rural population. Coffee is Ethiopia’s largest export, producing nearly half a million tonnes each year, and bringing in more than a third of the country’s total foreign income.

Ethiopia is fairly unique compared to other coffee producing countries, partly due to its lack of colonial past and associated resource extraction, in that more than half of the coffee produced here is consumed in the country. Ethiopia’s proud and rich history with coffee is clear to see all over the country, where coffee consumption is an event celebrated with the famous coffee ceremony.

It’s a privilege to travel in Ethiopia. Each trip is an attempt to understand the ever-changing facets of Ethiopia’s coffee chain, but also to uncover the history, culture and people that have formed the complexity and beauty of modern Ethiopia. We hope to continue our work there together with close partners, who have made it their mission to preserve excellent Ethiopian coffees, and the livelihoods of the communities that produce them.

Coffee in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, coffee still grows semi-wild, and in some cases completely wild. Apart from some regions of neighbouring South Sudan, Ethiopia is the only country in which coffee is found growing in this way, due to its status as the genetic birthplace of arabica coffee. This means that in many regions, small producers still harvest cherries from wild coffee trees growing in high altitude humid forests, especially around Ethiopia’s famous Great Rift Valley.

Forest coffee makes up a great deal of Ethiopia's yearly output, so this is a hugely important method of production, and part of what makes Ethiopian coffee so unique. Deforestation is threatening many of coffee’s iconic homes in Ethiopia, leading to dwindling yields and loss of biodiversity; significant price fluctuations and ongoing unrest over the past decade have led many farmers to seek safer and more reliable forms of income, often replacing coffee with timber in the form of fast growing eucalyptus, an incredibly demanding crop in terms of both water and nutrient usage.

Throughout the endemic Ethiopian systems, a much higher level of biodiversity is maintained than in modern coffee production in much of the rest of the world. This is partly due to the forest system, and partly down to the genetic diversity of the coffee plants themselves.

There are thousands of ‘heirloom’ varieties growing in Ethiopia; all descended from wild cross pollination between species derived from the original Arabica trees. This biodiversity leads to hardier coffee plants, which don’t need to be artificially fertilised. This means that 95% of coffee production in Ethiopia is organic, although most small farmers and mills can’t afford to pay for certification, so can’t label their coffee as such.

The absence of monoculture in the Ethiopian coffee lands also means plants are much less susceptible to the decimating effects of diseases such as leaf rust that have ripped through other producing countries. Maintaining these systems is important, both within the context of the coffee industry, and for wider biodiversity and sustainability.

Molplaco

Our primary partners in Ethiopia, Moplaco, have made it their mission to inform of this destruction, and to continue supporting the communities they work with in order to make coffee a profitable and attractive business for smallholder farmers.

A unique profile

The long term viability of Ethiopian coffee is so important for the industry. Ethiopian coffee systems are an archetype for coffee across the rest of the world, being used as a research example for more robust modes of coffee growing.

These unique methods, with fertile soils, biodiverse plantations, and a unique and diverse varietal selection, lead to flavour profiles which we simply don’t find elsewhere in the coffee belt. Many cherish Ethiopian coffees as their ‘eureka’ moment with coffee, clearly remembering the first time they experienced the captivatingly complex aromatic profile.

Various growing regions and processes lead to a diverse array of interpretations of this profile, from soft and delicate, to juicy and rich, all the way to wild and unconventional. The finest examples communicate the unique features of their origin; the complex aromatic signatures that only Ethiopian coffees can convey.

ETHIOPIA, BY PAW GISSEL

Paw has been a part of La Cabra since the start. He is an educated photojournalist, and has travelled extensively in search of captivating stories. 

Now working mainly with fashion and commercial photography, Paw still joins us on many of our travels, and has been a huge inspiration for La Cabra’s visual language. 

Follow the link below for the full length feature, where he shares his experience of Ethiopia through words and images.


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