Settled agriculture began in Ethiopia some 2000 years ago. Since days of immemorial Coffea arabica
L. has been grown in wild forests of the South-Western highlands of Kaffa and Buno districts of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is the
primary center of origin and genetic diversity of the Arabica coffee plant which was also described as Jasminum Arabicum Laurifilia, (Juss) prior to its current name.
Ethiopia has over 70 ethnic groups with over 200 languages. As a result, coffee is described as Bunna (in Amharic), Bun (in Tigrigna), Buna (in Oromifa), Bono (in Kefficho), Kawa
(in Guragigna), etc. Some consider that these and other names of coffee were derived from the name Kafa or Buno districts of Ethiopia where coffee has originated. The French and Spanish call it Cafe
, the Italian Caffe, , the German Kaffee, the finish Kahvi, the Dutch Koffie, the Greek Kafes,
etc. All are phonetic approximations of the original Ethiopian, Arabic or Turkish word. The single word coffee had passed into the languages by the year 1700.
The most widely cited legend about the discovery of coffee is that of the goat-herd Kaldi. Kaldi noticed that his goats pranced excitedly after chewing
berries from coffee bushes that he also tasted and enjoyed their stimulating effect. A monk who found Kaldi in that invigorated state also tried the cherries
and took some cherries to his monastery, roasted and brewed them and tried out the beverage on his brethren. As result they were kept awake during their long prayers at night. Coffee was accepted as a stimulant drink.
Coffee might have been introduced to Arabica Felix now known under the name of Yemen either by the Persians or Ethiopians. The exact year of coffee
introduction to Arabia is not well documented, but some estimates go back as early as 575 AD or as late as 850 AD. All, however, agreed that Yemen is the
secondary dispersal center. The plant was wholly introduced in the new world from Yemen to Java (1690) and to India (1700), Amsterdam (1706), Colombia (1714), Brazil (1715), and back to Africa (1877).
Coffee domestication continued, as people became more acquainted to it and through time coffee attained an important place in the social and cultural life of
the people of Ethiopia. In 1500 coffee became one of the important commodities in the Harar and Dawaro areas of the South-Eastern part of
Ethiopia. Nevertheless, it was transplanted from the South- Western part to the North with the movement of the Oromos towards the end of the 16th century. In the early 17th
century coffee was planted in Azazo, near lake Tana. The cultivation expanded and by early 19th century it was fairly extensive in several parts of the North-West, Bahir Dar, Zegue, and Gondar, Agewmider,
Korata, Wollo and Southern Shoa. Some farmers in Hararghe, Wonago and Anfilo (Wollega) areas still possess coffee trees older than 100 years.
