Ethiopia Shakisso

Country: Ethiopia

Farm: Shakisso Farm Region: Guji zone, Oromia region Processing: Washed/Unwashed Sidamo Variety: Mixed heirloom varieties Certification: Organic Rainforest Alliance Altitude: 1800 meters Packaging: Grain Pro Bags Harvest time: November – February

This coffee grows in the Oromia region, one of Ethiopia’s largest regions. The farm is located in the Guji zone, the southern part of Oromia that borders on the Sidama and Gedeo zones. The farm started to produce organic coffees in 2001 and works closely together with medium-sized outgrowers who are specialized in this highland forest coffee. Trabocca stepped in five years ago to co-monitor operations and logistics. We donated a cupping lab and every year we try to upgrade the quality and quantity.

The enterprise has 640 hectares with its own nursery sites to grow coffee seedlings. There are currently twelve permanent qualified members of staff with more than ten years practical experience in coffee production, processing, clearing and marketing. In addition to the permanent staff, we employ three highly qualified consultants and temporary workers. During harvest, we have more than 300 coffee pickers harvesting coffee. About 150 of them supply coffee individually to the wet mill.

There are many gold mines in the area, 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 plantation and pick cherries.