On the southern slope of the Bale Mountains lies the Harenna forest, one of Ethiopia’s great forests. There coffee grows wild, as just another shrub of the understorey. Bale is the great forest-coffee region of the south-east, and one of the least explored by specialty coffee.
Zone: Bale Zone · Oromia
Wild coffee altitude: 1,450 – 1,900 m
Farming: Forest and semi-forest
Forest: Harenna
Districts: Harena Buluk, Delo Menna
Protection: Bale Mountains National Park
The Harenna forest
Harenna covers the southern slope of the Bale Mountains, between 1,450 and 3,200 metres, and much of it is protected by the Bale Mountains National Park. Wild coffee is a common shrub in its lower part, between 1,450 and 1,900 metres. The main coffee districts are Harena Buluk and Delo Menna.
The forest is under pressure: since the late 1990s the area’s population has almost doubled and forest has been cleared for coffee, pasture and crops. Several projects work with thousands of growers to sell forest coffee and conserve Harenna.
How it tastes
We have not found reliable specialty sheets with tasting notes from Bale. It is forest and semi-forest coffee that rarely reaches the specialty market.
Frequently asked questions
Is there wild coffee in Ethiopia?
Yes. In forests such as Harenna, in Bale, or those of Kaffa, arabica grows wild under the trees. Even so, forest coffee is a small part of the country’s production.
What is the difference between forest and semi-forest coffee?
Forest coffee grows in the natural forest with very little intervention. In semi-forest, trees are thinned and the plants are tended more.
Is Bale the same as West Arsi?
No. They are neighbouring zones of Oromia. Only a small part of Harenna lies in West Arsi.