Musa Abulelessa and his two brothers, Mustefa and Gugu, all own small farms in the Gomma region of Agaro—with Musa and Mustefa operating two farms together outside of Beshasha called Koye and Chanko. Before the undergrowth was cleared for coffee, Musa and Mustefa’s jungle parcel at 2100 meters elevation was a hideout for their father, Abalulessa, a guerilla fighting the oppressive military government of the time called The Derg. Failing to capture him and having lost soldiers in their attempts, the government offered the local community a bounty for Abalulessa’s capture. With his health deteriorating and near death, Abalulessa turned to an old friend and, as thanks for nursing him through his final months, told him to tell the government he had killed him, thus benefiting from the bounty. Abalulessa died in 1977—when Musa was just two years old—and as part of a subsequent amnesty and reconciliation program, the government gave land to the brothers and their mother, which Abulelessa’s sons now farm.
In 2006, Musa won a competition held by the Ethiopian government among the 500 participants selected and, as a reward, was sent to participate in AFCA in Uganda, received prize money and a hand pulper. He used the prize money to expand his farm to 43.8 hectares, but, in 2008 the Ethiopian government introduced the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange, ending direct export and requiring Musa to sell his coffee at commercial prices locally in Agaro.
This changed in 2016 when the government began to liberalize coffee export and allow some farmers to hold their own export licenses. Crop to Cup was Musa’s first direct sale customer that year. Musa has inspired other farmers in the region—including his brother Gugu—to pursue direct export as a way to receive higher prices for their coffee. With the premiums he’s earned, Musa has begun to renovate his farm and replant using seedlings from his nursery; built new drying beds; purchased shade cloth; and built a larger warehouse.
Musa uses organic methods on his farm and also cultivates avocados and keeps honey bees to diversify his revenue. Musa and Mustefa also operate a seed production business, selling seeds to the local government seed banks.
