Stories of People Behind the Coffee

Coffee has come a long way from its birthplace in the hills of Ethiopia. It has moved many miles, been contested, stolen, and obsessed over. Its roots in Africa help tell the story.

Tracking Dr Livingstone’s explorations through Zimbabwe; he discovered a rich landscape, warm people and, more surprisingly, a fledgling coffee trade.

The once-thriving coffee industry in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is ripe for renewal. Foreign buyers are sniffing around, while the coffee world waits expectantly. Will PNG be the next big thing in specialty coffee?

Journey back 500,000 years to discover wild coffee and join in the Malagasy coffee obsession. An abridged version of the following article will appear in the 13th edition of Madagascar: The Bradt Travel Guide (2020).

In Madagascar, you’ll find more than lemurs and chameleons. It is also the land of wild Coffea. As Madagascar’s forests disappear, so do the wild coffee species and the ecosystems on which they rely. And some are already close to extinction…

Good development supports disadvantaged people to speak for themselves and make sustainable change, based on their own reality. Here’s how World Vision Australia’s social enterprise program with coffee tries to bring lasting social and economic change.

The big coffee brands are taking a second look at Zimbabwe, a once great coffee producer. On the frontlines of the local revival is the non-profit organisation, TechnoServe. They’re helping small-scale farmers access private markets, with life-changing results.

These days, Brits are increasingly opting for a coffee over the traditional “hot cup of tea”. But this is no recent love affair, coffee made its mark in the British Isles over 400 years ago.

The disturbing backstory to Madagascar’s thriving coffee industry – environmental degradation and alarming health impacts, all in the pursuit of a perfectly roasted and cupped coffee.

In Madagascar, coffee is a national obsession and a big part of daily life. At its heart are the street vendors who dedicate their lives to the process from bean to cup. This is their story.

Six months after the end of Robert Mugabe's 37-year stronghold, I travelled to my former homeland, the coffee belt in the Eastern Highlands, to talk with smallholder producers, NGOs and private sectors about the survivors of Zimbabwe’s coffee industry.

There has been little meaningful coffee production in Zimbabwe since 2010, thanks to a lack of business-initiatives, confidence, capital, good governance and political stability. Specialty coffee is a powerful hope for rural farmers - can it shine a light back to success?

Zimbabwean coffee was once known for its high-quality, chocolatey profile. But it’s been almost 20 years since it all but disappeared from the world stage and the country lost one of its most promising industries. Can it make a return today?

Coffee is a key driver in easing poverty for many of the world’s poorest communities, so sustainable coffee production is a win-win for all. It takes time and trust but small coffee producers across Asia are optimistic…

Coffee culture in Laos brings together politics, local gossip, hopes and dreams. Specialty coffee is on the rise in Laos and so are the voices of women linking tourism and coffee.

An ethnic minority family in Laos risked exchanging their upland rice hamlet for the alluring possibilities of small-scale coffee farming. They tell of the opportunities and challenges they face in trying to upgrade their position in the value chain.