Asikana Farm in West Wollega was established in 2008 by Mr. Bodja Gelalecha and his family. In Afan Oromo, the language spoken in the region of the farm, Asikana translates to “We start from here.” This is the heart of our organization; all of us working together, with what we have, to make our community better in the end. Mr. Gelalecha had a strong conviction to go back to his home and build something that would directly benefit the people that raised him. And so with that conviction, he created the Asikana business that encompasses the coffee farm (our main agricultural focus), an apiculture project, and vegetable plots that provide goods to sell in local markets.
Asikana operates an out-growers scheme through which it supports over 500 farmers and their families in the surrounding areas. The farm has acquired 200 hectares of land, (equivalent to almost 500 acres) from the state government. 51 of those are covered by coffee plantation, giving us great opportunity to grow the economic state of the region. We have also set up educational trainings for the out-growers to gain more knowledge and proper organic agricultural techniques in order to maximize the farmers’ success. We are ideally located for the production of coffee situated at an altitude of between 1,500 and 1,700 meters above sea level in the part of Western Ethiopia where coffee is abundant. Asikana also has a warehouse and a coffee hulling machine with capacity to hull 1 ton per hour at the farm site.
Additionally, we are in the process of planting a processing station in
Ethiopia’s capital city Addis Ababa. The head office resides in Addis as well with the farm itself residing about 500 km west in the Aira district of the Western Wollega region.
This natural process, certified Organic and Bird-Friendly microlot is the product of four individual growing communities: Wara Babo, Wara Kura, Wara Wayu Garjo and Homi Suchi and comprise 100% Wild Heirloom Ethiopian Arabica Cultivars. Q cuppers noticed the following notes,most of which should be apparent in our lightish
roast: boozy, rip red fruits, black tea, peach, vanilla, pineapple and mango. Darker profiles add the chocolate spectrum to the tasting equation, and serve as an anchor in Gary's Espresso and Mondocello formulations.
In the always-transparent presentation of this fully-traceable coffee, all the facts about production
can be found at www.trackyourcoffee.com/cui?code=ASI0901000. A $.49/lb surcharge, courtesy of the new government-enforced tariffs for Ethiopia, was applied to the importer when the coffee landed in the US, and is interpolated in the Badbeard's retail price.