Wild coffee in Bench Maji is so named because it grows deep within wild forests with no human intervention whatsoever.
There are dense forest areas around Gizmeret Cooperative in Sheko District which are a distance away from the homes of the coffee farmers. Bench Maji’s wild forest has a rich biodiversity which is allowed to thrive undisturbed as the coffee grows naturally without any form of cultivation. Farmers enter the forest only during the harvest season to collect the coffee cherries the trees are heavy with.
The yield is very low and the process is a painstaking one: Farmers must camp out in the wilderness make their way slowly through the thick forest to harvest the coffee cherries. The slow, difficult process is worth the effort for the unique, outstanding flavor that wild coffee offers.
