Coffee growing development and economic dislocation in the highlands of Southwest Ethiopia

Ethiopia is the center of origin˝ of coffee and the first African producer of the brew. It does best in the highlands in the south and southeast of the country where small producers and food crops are marketed. Government policies aimed at stimulating coffee production have caused socioeconomic dislocation in family peasant farming, as shown by the loss of food security, the polarization of local production, and the imposition of tenant farming and wage labor. Also problems arise from unequal access to resources where coffee yield favors the growth of private cultivation.