Ethiopia is widely regarded as the birthplace of coffee, and continues to be one of the most sought-after origins for speciality coffee. Legend has it that a 9th century goatherder named Kaldi discovered coffee when he noticed his goats dancing after eating the berries.
Although it was harvested from the wild for centuries and consumed within the country, coffee was probably first exported from Ethiopia in the 17th century. However, competition from Yemen, Java, and eventually the Americans meant it didn’t become a world coffee power until much later.
In 1974 the Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed by a coup and for nearly thirty years Ethiopia was ruled by a socialist military junta which established large-scale collective farms that were required to sell coffee to the government at low prices. After the junta’s overthrow in 1991 the industry began to liberalise and gain access to international markets.
In 2008 the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange was created with the aim of centralising trade and protecting both growers and buyers from the vagaries of the commodity markets. Coffees delivered to the exchange are sorted by region, cup profile, and quality and then auctioned. This has led to more consistent coffees—and more reliable payment for farmers—but coffees bought through the exchange lack traceability, and over the past few years the rules have loosened to allow more coffee to be traded directly.
Coffee remains hugely important to the Ethiopian economy, with upwards of 15 million people relying on the crop for their livelihood. There are three main categories of coffee production: forest coffee, where wild-growing trees are harvested in their natural environment; garden coffee, involving smallholder-style cultivation around a homestead; and plantation coffee which entails large-scale, intensive production. Garden coffee makes up the vast majority of Ethiopian coffee production.
Did you know?
- Ethiopia’s fame as the birthplace of coffee has never been categorically proven, and both South Sudan and Yemen can lay claim through genetic testing and storytelling to the title.
- The Ethiopian government has trademarked specific regional names such as Yirgacheffe, Harrar, and Sidamo in order to protect their place in the coffee market and hopefully achieve higher prices.
- At least half of the coffee produced in Ethiopia is consumed within the country, with coffee ceremonies playing an important role in the country’s culture.
