Ethiopia Shakisso

On this 640 hectare semi-forested farm, Haile grows mixed heirloom coffees, which for the Guji region tend to feature heavily Kudhume, Dega and Wolisho. Around 130 smallholders around the farm also contribute to the washing station that also falls under Shakisso ownership and operation.

Coming into coffee later in his life after stints in the navy, the Ministry of Land Reform and the Cooperative Institute, prison, and later studying business management in Moscow, Haile returned to Addis Ababa to teach Cooperative Management, eventually becoming Regional governor for Oromia.

In 2001, he and his family returned to Guji where he had been forced to flee with his family at a young age, inheriting land that was suitable for coffee growing. Since then, he has helped to create an industry in the area that has developed a reputation for great tasting coffee and stands shoulder to shoulder with the other renown regions of coffee-growing Ethiopia.