The Buri Farm Story:

"We start from here"

Asikana means "we start from here" and the name is a statement of purpose. The company was founded by Bodja Gelalcha, whose family has lived in the Aira district of West Welega, in Ethiopia's Oromia region, for more than two hundred years. Bodja was the eldest son of a coffee farmer. He left for school, earned a master's degree in development studies, and spent years working on development projects before coming home with a simple idea: the best way to raise living standards in his community was to help its farmers grow coffee good enough to compete on the world market.

Today the Buri farm sits about 500 kilometers west of Addis Ababa, at 1,500 to 1,700 meters above sea level. Asikana holds roughly 200 hectares there, and a large share of it is left as wild forest rather than planted. Beyond its own land, Asikana runs an outgrower program that supports more than 500 neighboring smallholder families, with training in organic growing and quality control. The farm also keeps bees. Honey is a second income for the community, and the bees help pollinate the coffee flowers.

What Bird Friendly® means on the ground

"Shade grown" has no legal definition. It can describe a real forest, or a few banana plants over a field of coffee. Smithsonian Bird Friendly® certification, created by scientists at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, is the strictest shade standard in coffee. Every certified farm has to be certified organic first, and then its canopy has to meet habitat criteria in the field:

• At least ten species of shade trees

• Three distinct layers of canopy

• At least 40 percent shade cover

• Trees reaching 12 meters (about 40 feet) or taller

Asikana joined the program in 2020. By the Smithsonian's count, the Buri farm and its growers now protect about 1,484 hectares of Bird Friendly® habitat, farmed by 589 certified growers.

"The existence of birds in the coffee farm shows there is peace and biodiversity."

Mengistu Itefa, Asikana Coffee, speaking to the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center

Mengistu has also described what the birds do for the farm: they eat the insects and worms that damage coffee plants, they carry the seeds of the shade trees, and their presence is a sign that no chemicals are being used in the fields. And, he adds, the farmers simply enjoy having them around.

TRACEABLE TO:

Sourced From - Ethiopia, Asikana

Farm - Single farm - Buri Farm

Varietals - Ethiopian Heirloom

Process - Natural Process

Elevation: 1500 to 1700 MASL

Notes - Peach, bergamot, milk chocolate