Etiopia

Capital: Addis Ababa

Area: 1,230,000 square kilometers

Population: Over 100 million

Language: Amharic

Currency: Birr

Annual Production: 390,500 tonnes

Coffee Producing Area: Not fully verified

Producing Regions: Kaffa, Sidamo, Yirgachaffe, Limu, Harrar, Nekempti

Coffee Varietals: Heirloom

Terrain: Mountainous highlands and plateaus

Altitude: 1475-2300 MASL

Soil: Predominantly volcanic and sedimentary

Harvest: September-January

Ethiopia is acknowledged as the birthplace of Arabica coffee  and over the centuries has retained a revered place in the social, cultural and economic heart of the country. Today, the country is the world’s 5^th largest exporter. Coffee in Ethiopia is predominantly a highland crop growing at elevations between 1100 – 2300 MASL. About 90% of Ethiopian coffee is produced by small holder farmers and remaining 10% by commercial, government and private estates. This can be broken down as:

Forest : 10%    No owner, no maintenance

Semi-forest: 25%    Minimum  maintenance, average holding  2.5 hectares

Garden: 60%    Individual farmer, average holding 1 hectare

Commercial: 5%     Commercial scale, generally 30 hectares

Over half of all production is consumed domestically, Ethiopians being the largest coffee consumers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

As a rule, only Grade 1 and Grade 2 coffees are washed, Grade 3, 4 and 5 are naturals. Ethiopian beans are often referred to by their bean shape, Longberry and shortberry; based on size as the name suggests and Mocha which are peaberries.