About the farm

These coffee beans come from the Dambi Uddo forest in the Guji appellation. They are produced in an agroforestry system that mixes around fifteen endemic species. The shawo, after which this coffee is named, is one of these. It is a tree that can grow to over 20 metres in height and is a good companion for coffee trees. By promoting this forest coffee, Belco (the importer) wants to help preserve this rare environment and support the farmers involved in this agroforestry.

The Dambi Uddo farm is divided into 4 plots, all named after an endemic tree that grows in the forest. The shawo is a tree with an extensive canopy that provides shade suitable for coffee growing. This Shawo plot, located at an altitude of between 2,070 and 2,120 metres, covers 22 hectares, although the coffee trees are just planted on half of the land because the other is too dense.

About the farmer

Guji Highland Coffee Plantation is a family-run business established in 2012 and managed by Wadessa Yachisa. Originally from Shakisso, he has been involved in coffee production for many years. At the age of seventeen, Wadessa was forced to leave high school to join the army and do his military service. When he returned to his native region at the end of the 1990s, the political situation was unstable and he was unable to resume his studies.

However, he was able to bounce back: He began by working in one of the gold mines in the Guji region. Accumulating some savings, he decided to invest in coffee, which seemed to be a promising sector in this area. In 1999, he set up his first company with some friends, which he ran for several years.

In 2010 he travelled to Dambi Uddo and decided to invest in this beautiful coffee forest. Guji Highland Coffee Plantation PLC was born. They now have 150 hectares of land devoted to coffee production. They also work with farmers, from whom they collect the cherries. The farmers have several drying stations and have recently installed a washing station at Dambi Uddo to prepare washed coffee.