history of ethiopia
In Ethiopia, coffee is a form of communal celebration, consisting of three ceremonies a day. The people of Oromia viewed coffee as a connection to nature, neighbors, and God. Coffee was meant to be more than a drink, but also an opportunity to connect with your loved ones, spend quality time with people, and appreciate the Earth.
Image source: Royal Coffee
Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee and the only place in the world where the crop grows wild. The Oromo people of East Africa are said to have been the first to cultivate and consume coffee, typically in the form of a thick paste.
The legend of Kaldi tells of a goat herder who discovered coffee after witnessing the energy that his goats received from eating the cherries. The tale often neglects to mention that Kaldi was an Oromo person, and during colonization, Europeans conquered Oromia, took over their crops, and named the area the territories of what we know today as Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.
The colonizers appropriated the Oromo tribe’s coffee cultivation practices and their culture. Following the colonization of East Africa, coffee spread through the Ottoman Empire which later moved to occupy Yemen in 1536 to create coffee plantations. There, coffee beans from both Ethiopia and Yemen would be sold as “Mocha” because they were both transported from the Mocha port.
The colonization of East Africa led to centuries of oppression that the Oromo people still face today in Ethiopia. With the commodification of coffee, the indigenous people were forced to grow and sell coffee beans for a low price or trade it for cloth and goods. Hundreds of trees were assigned to each villager, and they were required to harvest and tend to them.
Despite its violent colonial history, coffee culture in Ethiopia remains strong. Small farms and independent exporters find success and stability in the industry, and Ethiopians consume at least as much coffee as they export. Today, Ethiopia has the fastest-growing economy in Africa and is the fifth largest coffee-producer in the world.
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