🇪🇹Ethiopia

Tesfaye Bekele

Tesfaye Bekele is a prominent Ethiopian coffee producer and a pioneer of the specialty coffee industry in the Guji region. He is widely recognized for his dual focus on high-quality coffee production and environmental conservation, often viewing his farm as a reforestation project first and a business second.

Farm: Suke Quto →

TagsTesfaye Bekele Suke Quto Ethiopia Welicho Kurume

History

After working in the government environmental sector during the 1990s, Bekele returned to his home in the Shakisso woreda of Guji following devastating wildfires. He founded Suke Quto farm in 2000 to restore the forest and provide local farmers with a sustainable alternative to planting crops like corn, which contributed to soil erosion. He is credited with helping to put Guji specialty coffee on the global map.

The farmer's day, in pictures

Editorial illustrations of the harvest and farm work our research documented — anonymous figures, never real likenesses.