Producer: Ato Tesfaye Bekele
Farm: Suke Quto
Region: Guji Zone
Altitude: 1,800-2,200 masl | 5,906-7,218 feet
Varietal: Kurume, Welicho
Process: Washed
Roast: Light-Medium
Notes: Clementine, Cane Sugar, Lemon Verbena

We have a limited quantity of this coffee from Ato Tesfaye Bekele, one of the people who put Guji specialty coffee on the map.

From 1997 to 1999 bushfires destroyed 5,000 forest acres in Guji. With a job in Natural Resource and Environmental Protection for the Ethiopian government, Tesfaye was responsible for rebuilding and finding new ways to conserve the area.

“After the fires, locals returned to the deforested lands to change these into agricultural fields. They started to produce teff and maize.” Tesfaye could not stop people from returning to rebuild their livelihoods, but he could provide an alternative. “I came up with the idea to replant the forests and also add coffee trees to enhance diversity.”

Tesfaye rented a truck and distributed coffee seedlings among the community. “People started to ask me how long it would take before this crop starts to yield cherries. I answered, ‘four to five years’. They gave the seedlings back to me after hearing this." Disappointed by this lack of faith, Tesfaye reserved a small piece of land and started a coffee seedling nursery with government money.

Tesfaye appointed several managers to overlook the nursery, but all found the job unappealing because of years without tangible results. So he resigned from his job and became a full-time coffee farmer. After his first harvest, the community that first rejected the idea returned to Tesfaye. “I am very proud of this idea because all the farms you see today in Guji are inspired by Suke Quto Farm.”

Tesfaye focuses on environmentally-friendly coffee and on the economic growth of the community. Suke Quto washing station collects cherries from 171 neighboring outgrowers and generates 200 seasonal jobs. He has also initiated the Suke Quto School Project, which has built and expanded two schools, added concrete floors and bathrooms, and more.