Guji is a distant and heavily forested swath of land stretching southeast through the lower corner of the massive Oromia region in Ethiopia. None of the routes to this area are short in distance or meant for the queasy in any way. Thanks to the Guji tribe of people who have for generations tried to reduce mining and logging efforts whenever possible, the area is heavily forested and they continue to conserve the land’s sacred canopy.
The Kayon Mountain Coffee Farm started in 2012 and is owned by multiple families that have been born and raised around the experience of coffee. The farm is managed by Ismael Hassen Aredo and employs 25 full time workers and up to 300 people for seasonal help during the peak of harvest.
By 2015, they had implemented washing stations and dry-hullers allowing them to start exporting their own coffees. Half of the property has been cultivated for their Heirloom Typica coffee and the other land reserved for cabbage, and indigenous shade trees. The farm is located in the Sidamo Zone and Guji District of Ethiopia within the Oromia region. Unlike much of the rest of the world, many of these farmers will then roast and grind their own harvest – Ethiopia is the world’s only major coffee producing country whose volume of consumption equals its export.
As for the future, Kayon Mountain plans to plant more coffee, improve the quality of their processing, and even begin leasing more land to expand their practices.
Growing Altitude: 1,900 - 2,200 MASL
Process: Natural
Harvest Months: October - January
