Farm Info

Producer: Various smallholder farmers
Region: Keffa

Background Information

This exceptional fully washed coffee was grown by smallholder farmers living around the Kebele (town) of Bonga in Keffa Zone, SNNPR Region. The coffee is collected from farmers by Home Land Organic Coffee Agro Industry PLC, who processes the coffee, before being sold to Primrose S.P PLC via the Ethiopian Coffee Exchange (ECX). In this case, our partner in the region Primrose, are responsible for dry milling and exporting the final product. The Zone of Keffa is deeply tied to the history of coffee.

Named after the former ‘Kingdom of Kaffa’ (located in the same region), Keffa is thought to be the original birthplace of all Arabica coffee produced around the world today. This is highlighted in the etymology of the word, as ‘Kaffa’ is thought to be from the Arabic word ‘qahwah’, meaning "a drink from berries". The English word "coffee", is also believed to be derived from the same root.

At first glance, Keffa’s hills look thickly forested - but in fact, it is a heavily populated region and the hills are dotted with many dwellings and villages’. This is in part due to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s 2004 voluntary resettlement programme. The project saw around 7800 families moved from overpopulated areas to less populated Woreda’s, such as Gimbo, Keffa. Around 85 per cent of Ethiopians still live rurally and make a living from agriculture; each family usually lives in a modest home (often a single round mud hut) and farms their own plot of land, where they grow both cash crops and food for their own consumption.

In Keffa, coffee is one of the main cash crops, often known as ‘garden coffee’ – covering from half a hectare to 1.5 hectares (the latter is considered big). This is usually planted alongside a second cash crop – often a large-leafed tree used in making roofs for (and also shade provider for the coffee) known as 'false banana' (Enset). This looks like a banana tree but isn't - instead its thick stem is used to produce both a nutritious flour and a fermented paste that are staple ingredients (particularly across southern Ethiopia).

Other subsistence crops planted include; sweet potato, papaya and avocado. Income from coffee is important but minimal for most farmers due to the small size of their farms. As such, inputs are minimal – most coffee grown in the region is 100% organic, though not certified, as farmers simply don’t have the money to apply chemical fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides. Primrose ensures that there are agricultural officers who work closely with each farmer to ensure the fertility of the farmland. In fact, soon the wet mill and surrounding farmers will also be RFA and UTZ certified.

Keffa Bonga

Founded in 2015 by Luke Underdown (pictured centre), Garage Coffee is a speciality coffee roasters based in the beautiful village of Hoath, just outside of Canterbury, Kent. Owner & Founder Luke identified a gap in the market to bring great coffee to the people of Kent, and started of trading at local markets and events to build the Garage brand. By 2016, Garage Coffee had gained a significant following and started to supply some wonderful hospitality businesses across the county.

In 2017, Garage Coffee opened it's flagship shop and training room in the heart of Canterbury, just off the high street and now has a small team making great coffee and sharing the same vision!

We roast in small 3kg batches for optimum quality, and only roast speciality grade coffees which are always fully traceable and fairly traded. Since launching, we have been building relationships with farmers, and sourcing coffee from the same farms season after season, with plans to make trips to these farmers in the near future!

And finally, why Garage Coffee?  Well, we are not actually based in a garage. But that's where it all started! Our roastery is situated on a campsite in Hoath and Luke had plans to convert a garage on site into a wonderful roasting labrynth - however it was just a little too close to the campers! So, he decided to source a shipping container and convert into a roastery! As 'Shipping Container Coffee' didn't quite have the same ring - he decided to stick with 'Garage Coffee', and 

Keffa Bonga

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Keffa Bonga