Day 16: Ethiopia, Guji

Shakisso Farm can be found in the Guji zone, the southern part of Oromia, one of Ethiopia’s largest regions. Known for its lush highlands, rolling green hills, and red, fertile soils, Guji has gained global recognition for its exceptional coffee and rich cultural heritage. The zone is named after the Guji Oromo people, one of the indigenous groups with a deep connection to the land.

The farm was started by father of seven, Haile Gebre and spreads out over 640 hectares. During harvest, there are more than 300 coffee pickers harvesting coffee and about 150 of them supply coffee individually to the wet mill.

There are many gold mines in the area of Shakisso Farm, so the coffee fields are literally full of holes where people have been digging for gold. This makes walking between the coffee trees risky. As a result, the biggest challenge these days is to find employees to maintain the farm and pick cherries.

Farmer spotlight: 

Image credit: Trabacco

This coffee comes from Shakisso Farm which is owned by Haile Gebre. Haile's journey with coffee is a tale of twists and turns! At just 10 years old, Haile and his family were forced to flee their home near Yirgacheffe when feudal lords took their land for large-scale coffee farming. As the son of a smallholder farmer, this was a bitter betrayal by the very crop that had been their livelihood. But life has a funny way of coming full circle, and years later, Haile turned his childhood nemesis into a lifelong friend! His path to making peace with coffee was anything but straightforward, involving a whirlwind of experiences: a brief stint at the University of Addis Ababa, an eye-opening chapter in the navy, and a government job that landed him in prison for three years for being too outspoken. After his release, Haile packed his bags for Moscow to study Business Management, eventually returning to Ethiopia in 1984 to teach Cooperative Management and later become Oromia Regional Governor, championing coffee cooperatives.

By 2001, Haile was ready to rekindle his bond with coffee. He and his family settled in the highlands of Guji, where he inherited a piece of land perfect for growing coffee. With a fresh sense of purpose, he distributed seedlings to local farmers, inspiring them to embrace coffee as a way to transform their community. Over the next 15 years, Haile, together with other prominent farmers, put Guji coffee firmly on the map. Thanks to their efforts, the region has blossomed from a cattle-farming area into a thriving coffee hub, complete with over 45 washing stations and 55 dry mills.