Ethiopia Agaro Yukro G1

Yukro is produced by 579 smallholder farmers in Wanja Kersa, a community within the Geera district of Ethiopia’s western Agaro region. Farms here sit between 1,800 and 2,200 meters and are typically very small, ranging from 0.1 to 2 hectares. Coffee is the primary source of income, grown in fertile sandy-loam soils and intercropped with maize and false banana trees for shade. Agaro has an earlier growing season than many of Ethiopia’s better-known coffee regions, with harvest running from mid-October through late January. These are often among the first Ethiopian coffees to arrive each year, yet they also tend to remain vibrant for an unusually long time after landing, continuing to develop over several months.

At the Yukro washing station, ripe cherries are mechanically depulped using Penagos equipment before the coffee is soaked overnight to remove any remaining mucilage. It is then dried on raised beds for six to eight days, with frequent turning to promote even drying and a clean, consistent cup. The washing stations of Agaro were established through a TechnoServe initiative focused on improving processing and helping producers earn better prices for higher-quality coffee. Yukro remains one of the region’s clearest examples of that work: a meticulously processed coffee shaped by high elevation, heavy rainfall, and the collective effort of the farmers of Wanja Kersa.