Ethiopia - Aricha

Ethiopian coffee production is shaped by the country’s three main seasons. Bega, from October to January, is the long dry season and the key period for coffee harvesting and processing. Belg, from February to May, brings the first rains, which support flowering and early fruit development. Krempt, from June to September, brings the heavier rains that support later fruit development and ripening. By the end of September the rains typically stop, allowing the cherries to continue ripening ahead of the main harvest period.

This anaerobic lot comes from Aricha, in Yirgacheffe, and is supplied through Girma Tamiru. The name Girma Tamiru can be translated into English as “Grace Miracle”. The site has been operating for three years, and this is the second year it has worked with Ephtah Specialty Coffee. While the processing site sits at around 2,100 metres above sea level, the coffee for this lot is sourced from smallholder farmers in Aricha, where elevations reach approximately 2,150 metres above sea level. The average farm size among contributing farmers is around 0.5 hectares.

Coffee in Aricha is grown by smallholder farmers under the shade of false banana trees. The coffee is produced from local heirloom cultivars and is harvested between November and January. The coffee is grown organically, although no organic certification is held due to the high cost of verification.

Ephtah Specialty Coffee works to build sustainable and collaborative supply chains across Ethiopia, with a focus on quality, long-term relationships and support for producer communities. For this lot, Ephtah financed 90% of the coffee, while the supplier financed the remaining 10% and paid that portion directly to farmers. This support helps enable the purchase and preparation of coffee through the season, particularly in a year when high cherry prices and tighter access to finance have created additional pressure across the supply chain.

The wider Yirgacheffe area is one of Ethiopia’s most renowned coffee-producing regions, known for high elevations, smallholder production systems and coffees with distinctive clarity and aromatic complexity. Farmers in the area also grow false banana, which is used locally to produce kocho, an important staple food. The fruit of the false banana plant is inedible, instead it is the root of the plant that is processed for food. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN describes false banana (ensete ventricosum) as providing "more food per unit area than most cereals."