Bird Friendly Ethiopia 12oz. Bean

Producing Organization & Exporter: Asikana Cooperative 
Asikana Members: 25 Permanent Employees, 50 Casual Employees, and over 1,000 Out Growers
Elected Directors of Asikana: Quality Control - Mengistu Itefa, Site Manager - Shiferaw Itefa, Director General - Bodja Gelalcha

Importer: San Cristobal Coffee Importers, USA

Community ("kebele" as they're called in Ethiopia) of Origin: Lalisa Birbir 
Municipality: Aira, West Welega
Coffee Varieties: Sende, Kuburi, 744, 74140 & 74110
Processing: Natural, 20 weeks resting.
Roast Profile: Light
Tasting Notes: Blackberry, pineapple and lavender.

About the Kebele:

Lalisa Birbir, especially the center of the kebele, is 12 Km from Aira town to the east and found on an altitude of 1,568m. The population size of this kebele is about 5,829. They have only one road that the community uses for transport facilities. Coffee from this kebele is characterized by a long berry type and has very good cup quality. The society here largely depends on coffee for their cash needs as the topography of the land is not convenient for annual crop cultivation.

Asikana’s major coffee drying station, warehouse, coffee laboratory and guesthouse are situated in the town of Aira. The fruit collection, drying, storing, and cupping will take place in this station. Blending and hulling will also take place here and before the coffee is then transported to Moplaco in Addis for further processing at export standard. Moplaco operates in a facility of more than 4,000 square meters, two separate stores, each process either washed coffee or sundried coffee. Modern machines, two electronic sorters, and an obsession, allow the company to process up to twenty metric tons a day. All finishing touches are done by women carefully handpicking the coffee, to ensure optimum quality.

History of Asikana:

The founder of Asikana Coffee, Mr. Bodja Gelalcha and his family have deep community ties with the area stretching back for over 200 years. Coffee cultivation is an integral part of rural life in that part of the country. Bodja, the eldest son of a farmer, in a family of four boys and two girls, with huge thirst for knowledge and education, grabbed the opportunity for schooling at an early age.

After finishing his master’s degree in developmental studies, Bodja worked in various development projects. These experiences equipped him with a fundamental vision of how to improve living standards in his native community. Asikana was established with the goal of educating community members on the development and production of high-quality coffee. Asikana in Afan Oromo (the language of Oromia) means "we start from here."

Asikana was established in 2008 with its head office in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. Asikana has farm sites in Buri and Kalo of Wora Kura and Kure administrative units (Kebeles) in Aira District part of Western Wollega Zone, Oromia Regional State. These farm sites are located 509 Km from Addis Ababa. At all of its farm sites, the company's primary business is coffee production. However, a secondary business is honey production. Honey is a complimentary product because bees play a vital role in the cross-pollination of the bloomed coffee plant.

Asikana is coordinating over 1,000 farmers (or “out growers” as they are known in Ethiopia) in the Aira District, training them on how to control the quality of their coffee.

History of Asikana + San Cristobal Coffee Importers in USA + CAFESUMEX in Mexico:

In 2019, Asikana sent an intern named Mengistu to San Cristobal’s Mexico office in Tepic, Nayarit. The purpose of his internship was to take quality control knowledge back to Ethiopia to improve the efficiency and quality of Asikana’s harvest. Mengistu returned to Ethiopia in May 2019 to set up a FincaLab® standard cupping lab. Three years later, Mengistu continues to implement coffee QMS and improve the quality of Asikana’s coffee.

Featured Bird: 
Silvery-Cheeked Hornbill • Bycanistes brevis
A native to Eastern Africa, the Silvery-Cheeked Hornbill is the featured bird on Asikana's Buri Coffee Farm. These birds are threatened by deforestation mostly due to their unique nesting strategy; the female seals herself into a tree cavity with her brood, leaving only a small opening for the male to deliver food to both the female and chicks until they are ready to fledge. 


Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center
When you drink Bird Friendly® certified coffee, you brew a more biodiverse, sustainable world. Created by Smithsonian scientists, the Bird Friendly gold standard does more to protect habitat that is often destroyed to make way for coffee growing. Support the best in organic, eco-friendly farming by choosing Bird Friendly® certified coffee.
Learn More: SMBC Website