Ethiopia is the fifth-largest coffee producer in the world. The country has made continuous efforts to enhance the production, productivity and quality of its coffee. Yet, comprehensive data on these issues are scant. This paper aims to document available information on the economic importance, production, productivity, quality and chemical contents of Ethiopian coffee, and to identify developmental and/or research gaps on its productivity and quality. Coffee now accounts for ca. 25–30% of the country’s total foreign currency earnings and the amount of foreign currency earnings from coffee increases over the years with a varying rate. Production and cultivation areas of Ethiopian coffee also increase over the past 60 years, but the changes in its productivity and quality are minor. Also, the share of the top grade (Grade 1 and 2) coffees in Ethiopia has remained lower over time, and the quality and chemical composition of Ethiopian coffee vary with growing region and locality. Compared to others, coffees from Eastern (Harar) and Southern regions are better in overall quality, and coffee from Northwestern region is higher in chlorogenic acid and sucrose contents, whereas those from Harar and Southwestern regions are lower in caffeine and chlorogenic acid contents, respectively. However, Harar coffee is higher in fatty acid content than other region coffees. Overall, the paper shows (1) the economic importance, production, productivity, quality and chemical contents, (2) information gaps on productivity, and quality and chemical profiles, and (3) the existence of a large room for productivity and quality improvements of Ethiopian coffee.

The individual and interaction effects of elevation, production system (PS), shade and postharvest processing (PHP) on the ratio of dry beans to red cherries and the green bean physical quality features and defects of arabica coffee in southwestern Ethiopia were evaluated. The results showed that, with increasing elevation, the proportions of the total defected beans and large beans decreased while that of medium beans increased. Moreover, the proportion of secondary defects, 1000 seed weight and bean volume were higher for lowland and midland coffees than for highland coffee, but bean density was higher for highland than for lowland and midland coffees. The proportion of the total defected beans was also higher for modern plantation coffee in lowland than for modern plantation and semi-plantation coffees in midland and highland, but the 1000 seed weight was lower for semi-plantation coffee in highland than for modern plantation coffee in lowland and midland. The ratio of primary and secondary defects respectively was higher for dry- and wet-processed coffee in lowland than for dry- and wet-processed coffees in midland and highland. But, the ratio of small beans was lower for wet-processed coffee in lowland than for dry-processed coffee across elevations. The ratio of dry beans to red cherries and the 100 beans volume were higher for wet-processed modern plantation and semi-plantation coffees in midland than for dry-processed coffees of both production systems across elevations. However, the ratio of large beans was higher (1) for wet-processed modern plantation coffee in lowland than for dry- and wet-processed coffees of both production systems across elevations, and (2) for coffee that was grown without shade and wet-processed in lowland than for other coffees. Bean density was higher for dry-processed modern plantation and semi-plantation coffee in midland and highland, respectively than for other coffees across elevations. Overall, these results underlined the primary effects of elevation and PS, and the complex interaction effects between PHP and PS or shade on the ratio of dry beans to red cherries and the physical features and defects of green arabica coffee beans.