Addis Ababa – Qahwa World x Buna Kurs
As the AFCA conference continues, a focused side event at Creative Hub Ethiopia turned attention to an often-overlooked part of the coffee cherry: cascara. Sip, Savor, Sustain: Ethiopian Cascara Tasting brought together industry professionals, creatives, coffee producers, and coffee enthusiasts to explore how circular economy practices can create new opportunities—particularly for women in coffee.
The event was organized by the Center for Circular Economy in Coffee (C4CEC) in collaboration with Women in Coffee Ethiopia (WiCE) and Muna Mohammed, Founder and CEO of Eight50 Coffee in Canada, with support from the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and UNIDO, and in partnership with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Labor and Skills. Spanish Cooperation supported research on women in coffee and facilitated the participation of a woman coffee farmer to share firsthand experience from the field. The initiative builds on a research and pilot capacity-building program focused on coffee by-product valorization, implemented with women producers.
While cascara is gaining international attention, Ethiopian communities—especially women—have long brewed the dried coffee cherry as hashara tea, embedding sustainability into daily life long before it became a global concept.
During the event, cascara was served as tea, offering participants a sensory introduction to how coffee by-products can be transformed into market-ready products with export potential.
A key highlight of the evening was the emphasis on women’s participation in value addition across the coffee value chain. Women in Coffee Ethiopia (WiCE) emphasized that cascara represents a practical pathway for women producers to diversify income while reducing environmental waste from coffee processing.
The human impact of this approach was reflected in a presentation by a woman coffee producer representing a women-led cooperative from a major coffee-growing region of Ethiopia. Sharing her experience, she noted that cascara production and related training have improved household income, strengthened technical skills, and expanded economic opportunities for women in her community.
By turning what was once considered waste into a high-value product, cascara creates a second income stream that can directly benefit women-led cooperatives without requiring additional land or resources. At the same time, it supports environmental sustainability by reducing by-product disposal and promoting circular economy models within Ethiopia’s coffee sector.
The event drew a diverse audience of development partners, cooperatives, entrepreneurs, and industry representatives, reinforcing growing interest in inclusive, women-centered coffee innovations.
As Ethiopia continues to position itself as a global leader in specialty coffee, initiatives like Sip, Savor, Sustain demonstrate that the future of the sector lies not only in the bean, but in the full coffee fruit—and in empowering the women who have long been at the heart of its journey.
