When the communist regime took over in the 70s, Ibrahim’s father lost his farm, leaving him with just a dry mill in the town of Limu Genet. But Ibrahim’s passion for coffee was not something that would die away easily. Always remembering the halcyon days of his childhood – crossing rivers by mule, eating around a campfire with his father – he always dreamt of going back to growing coffee on a large farm.
In the early 90s, the communist regime fell, and Ibrahim got a chance to make his dreams a reality. Although he did not get his father’s land back, Ibrahim purchased 205 hectares of land quite close to his old stomping grounds. This is now the source of Burka Gudina’s grade one coffee, the culmination of Ibrahim’s passion and fulfillment of his dreams.
The Burka Gudina Farm
When Ibrahim’s grandfather started growing coffee, coffee was the major crop grown in the area. The same holds true today, and it is no surprise as this land is a perfect coffee country. Situated at an altitude ranging from 1800 to 2000 meters above sea level, the Burka Gudina farm rests on densely forested hills that roll up and down in gentle slopes.
The Burka Gudina flavor
Ibrahim’s Burka Gudina coffee has a similar taste profile to other Limu coffees, but the farm’s altitude and weather conditions give the coffee its own unique taste. This flavor has slowly gained recognition in the specialty coffee world, and Ibrahim’s clients include buyers in Europe, the US, and Japan.
Good management and high payment effects the Burka Gudina coffee
Knowing how important it is to maintain the quality of his coffee, Ibrahim invests heavily in training his farmers and arranges regular visits and workshops with industry professionals.
“Good management is the key to good coffee”, says Ibrahim, adding “we pay farmers on time and pay them a higher salary. So, laborers like to work for us. This means people work well for us, and this, in turn, has an effect on the taste of our coffee.”
What the Future Holds for Burka Gudina
Burka Gudina is a well-established farm now. Ibrahim focuses most of his energy on certification (the farm has Organic, UTZ, RFA, and Café Practice certification) and finding new buyers for his grade one coffee. He is also working on installing a digital color sorter in Addis Ababa to further improve the sorting of his coffee.
The workers on the ground are focused on ways to increase the farm’s yield while maintaining quality and leaving the environment undisturbed. As Ibrahim says, “What we have in our hands is the collective wealth of everyone in the world. It is our duty to pass it on undamaged to the next generation. That way, our coffee can be enjoyed for centuries to come.”
