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How unravelling the genetic story behind Yemen’s coffee trees could future-proof the global industry.
In the technological world artificial intelligence is said to hold the key to the future, while electric cars are steering the automotive industry’s next chapter. In the coffee world, some believe the future of the commodity can be glimpsed by looking to the fields of Yemen.
Coffee production in Yemen is shrouded in mystery. How can one of the most arid environments on the planet, characterised by shifts between extreme heat and cold, and with one of the lowest annual rainfalls globally, have coffee trees that not only survive but thrive?
Coffee typically needs 1000 millimetres of rainfall per year to grow. Yemen’s coffee regions receive, on average, 200 to 350 millimetres of rainfall annually. And yet coffee grows.
It may seem cliché that the birthplace of coffee farming could hold the answers to the plight of the plant, but one key figure with deep ties to Yemen says although the country and its farmers have pioneered coffee for centuries, it has been overlooked as a central player in shaping the global industry.
According to Faris Sheibani, CEO and Founder of United Kingdom-based Qima Coffee, deciphering the genetic story behind Yemeni coffee trees and celebrating local farming practices could future proof international coffee production.
“Yemen was the first country to commercialise coffee, 700 years ago. It was the first country to process and sell coffee and it birthed the ‘coffee drink’ culture, making it a pioneer in coffee trading,” says Sheibani.
“Fast forward to now and Yemen, in my view, is still a pioneer.”
Seeing the potential in Yemeni coffee trees, Sheibani founded Qima Coffee in 2016, a company that manages the value chain from farm to café.
“I was drawn to the beauty of the connection between Yemen and its coffee history, however, I also realised that Yemeni coffee wasn’t being exported to premium international markets at all, despite its rich heritage and potential,” he says.
He adds that the challenges of bringing the commodity to the international market were substantial. In addition to political instability making it difficult to grow industry – let alone one as complex as coffee – there were significant logistical challenges as Yemen has limited infrastructure.
“Roads are poor, and it could take six to eight hours to travel just 100 kilometres. This made it incredibly difficult to move coffee from farms to markets,” says Sheibani.
Additionally, he says the Yemeni coffee supply chain, though centuries old, had transparency and quality issues. Coffee buyers, especially international buyers, loved the idea of Yemeni coffee but often expressed concerns about traceability. They couldn’t track where the coffee was coming from and the quality was inconsistent, which was a barrier to Yemen’s coffee being recognised on the global market.
The existing system was flawed with poor processing practices, mixing with coffee from other regions, including illegal imports of Ethiopian coffee that were then falsely labelled as Yemeni coffee, and a lack of quality control. Sheibani says the only way forward was to start fresh.
“We began by working directly with farmers at the farm gate. We focused on ensuring only the best cherries were picked and that they were kept separate from neighbouring farms’ produce,” he says.
“From there, we managed every step of the value chain ourselves: from overseeing the harvest to processing, drying, and eventually exporting the coffee. This required significant investment – we had to build our own infrastructure, including drying stations, mills, and cherry collection centres.”
Qima Coffee also focused on educating farmers on post-harvest processing standards for specialty coffee, as they were already expert growers but lacked knowledge in specialty coffee processing. The goal was to ensure every step, from farm to export, met high-quality standards with full traceability and transparency.
According to Sheibani, this was essential to share its potential to the rest of the world.
A sustainable solution
As climate concerns threaten farms across the world, genetic varieties are becoming more important. Due to low genetic diversity, at least 60 per cent of wild Arabica species are threatened with extinction because of climate stress.
“Yemen is one of the most genetically diverse coffee growing origins on the planet. It’s an ecosystem,” says Sheibani. “It’s like a microcosm of the world’s cultivated varieties in a single country – it holds all the world’s genetic diversity.”
Noting how important it is to map this genetic diversity, Sheibani and Qima Coffee have partnered with Dr Christophe Montagnon, Founder and CEO of RD2 Vision and former Chief Scientific Officer of World Coffee Research, to define the genetic profile of Yemeni coffee trees.
“Over the past five years, we’ve conducted extensive research and development, publishing papers with numerous organisations,” says Sheibani. “Our work has been published in respected scientific journals, not just to share our findings but because we believe the knowledge we’ve gained is valuable to the global coffee community.”
In 2021, Sheibani and Dr Montagnon conducted a study to detail the genetic diversity of Coffea arabica in Yemen, which he says hadn’t been done before. As part of the study, 137 samples of C. arabica were studied from three groups: Ethiopian accessions, worldwide cultivars, and Yemen Qima breeding populations. The research team identified a cluster that was unique to Yemen.
The team named this cluster New-Yemen or Yemenia, which is a novel mother population within the species of C. arabica found exclusively in Yemen and represents untapped genetic potential. It now joins other mother populations including the Ethiopian accessions Typica, Bourbon, SL-34, and SL-17.
“There’s a lot of genetic material diversity in Yemen that can ultimately be utilised for the benefit of the 12.5 million coffee growing farms in the world,” says Sheibani. “They can be used for the benefit of other farmers who are facing the extinction of the crops because of climatic stresses.”
As this genetic diversity in Yemen is now being recognised globally, Sheibani says the next step is to dive deeper into understanding these native varieties and examine their attributes and characteristics.
“Once we identify a variety with significant genetic diversity, we need to assess how it performs. This includes factors like quality, climatic resilience, pest resistance, and disease tolerance,” he says. “These characteristics are critical, as they can offer valuable insights not just for Yemeni farmers but for farmers worldwide.”
Once these native varieties have been characterised, the next phase will involve applying this knowledge to benefit the global farming community, which can be done through research initiatives such as climate-centric breeding programmes. These types of initiatives would require the involvement of the Yemeni Government, and Sheibani hopes to see the wider industry focus more resources towards understanding coffee varieties.
Aside from the unique ecosystem that shapes Yemeni coffee, Sheibani suggests that coffee growers around the world could learn a great deal from the traditional farming practices of Yemeni farmers, especially when it comes to combating the increasing pressures of climate stress.
“They have been growing coffee in such an extreme environment for more than 600 years and have succeeded in doing so; there’s a lot to be learned in terms of traditional farm practices,” Sheibani says.
For example, in Yemen’s harsh, water-scarce environment, coffee plants must be able to reach deeper layers of soil where moisture may be more stable and available, especially during dry spells. By planting the coffee trees deeper, farmers ensure the plants can access water from deeper sources, allowing them to withstand prolonged periods of drought or irregular rainfall.
However, in regions with more consistent rainfall and milder climates, such as Colombia, there’s less immediate pressure on the plants to develop such deep root systems. As a result, the trees don’t need to be planted as deeply.
“For example, when a farmer makes a hole for a coffee seed for a new tree in Colombia, they’ll dig a hole of 30 centimetres cubed. In Yemen, it’ll be a metre cubed,” says Sheibani.
Female factor
In addition to these innovative farming practices, Sheibani highlights the significant role women play throughout the entire coffee value chain in Yemen – not just in cultivation. He hopes that the global coffee industry will recognise and follow this example.
In many coffee-growing regions – including Yemen – women play a key role in coffee cultivation, often taking on the primary responsibility for tasks such as irrigation, coffee picking, and general farm maintenance with studies in Yemen showing women are responsible for 60 to 80 per cent of the labour involved in coffee growing. But when it comes to the buying and selling of coffee, men typically handle the transactions.
This gender disparity is not unique to Yemen: it’s a global phenomenon.
“Yemeni women have been integral to coffee cultivation for centuries. Yet, despite their significant role, their contributions are rarely acknowledged or rewarded, both historically and in the present day,” says Sheibani.
“We recognised this imbalance and believed it was important to rectify it. Since 2019, we’ve been working to engage Yemeni coffee-growing communities and highlight the critical role that women play in coffee production. Our goal has been to find ways to recognise and reward their contributions, while respecting cultural sensitivities and male-female dynamics in different communities.”
After years of trust-building, Sheibani says Qima Coffee was able to get buy-in from the communities – not just from the women – but from the whole family unit. The results were positive, and for the first time, women farmers were recognised for their work.
Each year, Qima hosts the Best of Yemen auction where winning coffees from Qima’s coffee-quality competition are auctioned. In 2024, the top lot was produced by a women’s farming group.
“It was a proud moment for us, and for the Yemeni women who have been the backbone of coffee cultivation for so long. We’re excited about the future and hopeful this recognition will continue to grow,” he says.
A new world of flavour
As the world grows increasingly interested in specialty coffee, Sheibani says the distinctive flavours of Yemen can offer a new and exciting avenue for coffee lovers everywhere.
“You’ll find really distinct flavour profiles in Yemen that you can’t find anywhere else,” he says.
Yemeni coffee is described as having a bold, wine-like quality, with notes of fruit, spice, and floral undertones that are rare in coffees from other regions. This is partly due to the heirloom varieties of coffee that have been cultivated in the country for generations, many of which are indigenous to the region and cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
Sheibani notes the flavour profile is unique. Qima Coffee has origins in Colombia and Ecuador, but he says there’s nothing quite like Yemeni flavours.
“We work in a number of origins now and I still have to say that there are coffees that I’ll taste in Yemen with an extremely distinct flavour profile that I cannot find anywhere else,” he says.
During a cupping panel, Sheibani says Qima Coffee displayed 10 different coffees from 10 different regions in Yemen. However, the flavour profiles were so diverse the cuppers thought the coffees were from 10 different countries.
“It demonstrates the diversity of Yemeni coffee,” he says. “There’s so much diversity that you can find a big range of flavour profiles, such as nutty caramel notes, delicate, floral or fruity coffees.”
“Yemen coffee has such a wide profile range that there are flavours suited to the American profile, the European taste, and also to Middle Eastern, Japanese, or Taiwanese preferences.”
By bringing these unique flavours to a global audience, Sheibani believes it will provide proper support to local farming communities and acknowledge their centuries-old contributions.
“If these people, these communities, have helped to preserve genetic material of Arabica for 600 years, they’ve been doing that for generations,” he says. “I think it’s fair for them to be rewarded for that now, and for the world to acknowledge and engage with Yemen’s unique coffee culture.”
This article was first published in the January/February 2025 edition of Global Coffee Report. Read more HERE.
The post Does Yemen hold coffee’s climate solution? appeared first on Global Coffee Report.
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