So what makes Yemeni coffee so appealing? A 2013 report by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) outlined four elements which make it so unique: firstly, the existence of unique heirloom varieties have resulted in the ability of the Yemeni coffee trees to yield unparalleled flavour profiles. Other reasons are high altitudes of more than 2,000 metres, the centuries-old traditions used in the cultivation and processing of the beans and, lastly, the challenging growing conditions, resulting in stressed coffee beans.
The popularity of the coffee and the low level of supply means Yemeni coffee is also one of the most expensive in the world. “Yemen coffee has low production volumes, is difficult to farm due to limited resources and export due to infrastructure and political challenges,” Hetzel says of the high cost. “There is also a lack of low-cost farm labour and financing at reasonable interest rates to carry farmers through the annual crop cycle. The combination of these factors makes coffee farming an expensive and risky venture in Yemen. The other factor relates to the market for this coffee. Yemeni coffee is very popular in Saudi Arabia, whose patrons will pay large premiums for the coffee regardless of quality.”
Garfield Kerr, a former private equity Wall Street broker who left the finance rat race to pursue his love of Yemeni coffee six years ago. Earlier this year, Kerr opened the Mokha 1450 specialty coffee shop at the Aswaaq Shopping Centre along Dubai’s Al Wasl Road. Kerr says the average price for a good international coffee bean is about $10 per kilo. “Yemeni coffee can run around $30 per kilo so it is about three times as much,” he says. “This is misleading, however, with respect to the high price as most farmers from other regions are selling at greater volumes than Yemeni farmers so the Yemeni farmers are selling much less at a greater price but not really better positioned than other farmers financially.”
In a bid to boost the beleaguered industry, the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) last year started a five-year project, funded by the USAID, which was dubbed Competitive Agriculture Systems for High-Value Crops (CASH). During its first year, the not-for-profit programme began training Yemeni growers on the best agricultural practices and developing the specialty market sector for Yemeni growers in the US and abroad.
However, the conflict earlier this year forced CQI to suspend its work and USAID has shifted its efforts toward humanitarian aid.
Another major threat to the industry is the increasing production of qat, a flowering plant that contains cathinone, an amphetamine-like stimulant, which is consumed by users for recreational use. Farmers prefer qat because it is easier to grow and generates higher yields.
However, the IFAD reported that, in 2014, qat production covers 22 percent of irrigated agricultural area but accounted for 60 percent of water use. Lack of water is already an issue in the arid country, with average annual rainfall in Yemen amounting to only 167 millimetres, compared to 848mm in Ethiopia, according to data from the World Bank. Therefore, as well as threatening the coffee farming tradition, qat is placing demands on the already scarce supply of water.
“Lacking financing options and with quick access to local markets, qat is replacing coffee as a preferable cash crop,” Hetzel laments. “You essentially can pull a grown bush out of the ground and take it to the local market and get cash that day rather than wait a whole year for payment.”
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There is one controversial move taking place to develop the Yemeni coffee sector, but this time the setting is a laboratory instead of a farm. World Coffee Research, based at Texas A&M’s Borlaug Institute, is attempting to genetically fingerprint Yemeni coffee varieties. Heading up this project is Dr Amin Al Hakimi, professor of plant breeding at Sana’a University and a visiting researcher at Texas A&M University.
“The preliminary results of DNA sequencing of Yemeni landraces indicated that Yemeni collection contains novel genetic diversity not present in the old collection,” Dr Al Hakimi says.
As well as studying the DNA sequences, the second part of the research was focused on looking for physiological traits related to drought tolerance in Yemeni coffee. This meant about 30 farms were evaluated under greenhouse conditions for more than one year.
While the first stage, acquiring about 176 coffee grains samples from Yemen, was completed, the political conflict has dented progress. “The first phase of this project is completed, but the recent conflict in Yemen has not permitted us to start the second part of this research and transferring these data and technics to Sana’a University and establishing a laboratory,” says Dr Al Hakimi, adding that he hopes to return to Yemen this month to evaluate the effect of the civil war has had on production.
Hetzel, who is also involved in the Texas project, outlines the motivation behind it: “We are in a situation where the global production of coffee is at risk to disease, pests and global warming. Genetic material found in Yemen can help to expand the genetic lines of Arabic coffee, as well as find new positive characteristics that can impact productivity and flavour. The project was designed to identify the unique coffee of Yemen but more importantly, preserve the future of all coffee.”
However, the move has not been popular with everyone in the industry. “I don’t understand what they are trying to do,” says Kerr, who would like to preserve the industry’s traditional heritage. “Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the entire world and it has been coming from the developing world for millennia. There are a lot of large companies and, if they could, they would produce coffee in more stable regions in other parts of the world. What makes specialty coffee special is where it is grown. You can’t replicate the environment or the altitude. It is like saying ‘I will take your grandmother’s cooking, and the way she does something, and take it and do it the same way in Texas’. I don’t think so. I think they are trying to attract the price you get for Yemeni coffee, but without the headache.”
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