Background

Gesha Village started when Rachel Samuel and Adam Overton developed a passion for coffee while producing a documentary about Ethiopian coffee in 2007. In 2011 they found the perfect piece of land in the Bench Maji zone — near the Gori Gesha forest where the Gesha variety originates.

The 471-hectare farm has grown to over 700,000 coffee trees and 30,000 native shade trees. It is divided into eight sub-farms: Bangi, Narsha Gaylee, Dimma, Shaya, Oma, Surma, and Shewa-Jibabu. Three varieties are planted: Gesha 1931, Gori Gesha, and Illubabor — all selected from wild seeds in the neighbouring forest.

The farm operates under an agroforestry system with indigenous shade trees on virgin forest with brown-red loamy soil. Wildlife includes birds, wild boar, deer, cheetah, buffalo, lion, colobus monkey, hyena, and porcupine.