Economy
Yemen's farmers revive a historic coffee legacy
Yemen's farmers are replacing qat with coffee to revive a historic trade, conserve resources and reconnect the country with its centuries-old role as the home of mocha.
![A speciality coffee shop employee holds a handful of fresh roast coffee grains at the shop in Sanaa, Yemen, on July 18, 2023. [Mohammed Huwais/AFP]](/gc1/images/2026/07/15/57008-afp__20230726__33pu273_-600_384.webp)
By Al-Fassel |
Farmers throughout Yemen's mountain regions are replacing water-intensive qat with premium coffee seedlings.
The shift, backed by government and international development projects, aims to revive Yemen's historic coffee trade and diversify rural incomes.
In the Haraz highlands southwest of Sanaa, entire villages have organized community efforts to uproot qat and plant coffee instead.
A UN Development Programme project in Taiz has created direct job opportunities for more than 43,000 people, including 4,000 women.
The initiative, funded by the World Bank, also supports farmers abandoning qat by aiding their transition to coffee cultivation.
Qat farming consumes an estimated 40 percent of Yemen's water resources and occupies 15 percent of its agricultural land, making coffee a comparatively sustainable alternative.
A global café boom
Yemeni specialty coffee shops have become vibrant cultural hubs across North America, Europe and Asia, mirroring Yemen's traditional late-night Maqahi (coffee houses).
Qahwah House, founded in 2017 in the US, operates 23 locations from Texas to New York.
Other chains, including Haraz, MOKAFÉ and Qamaria Yemeni Coffee Co., have also opened in the US.
In Yemen, nightlife has long centered on coffee houses called "Maqahi", rather than bars or clubs.
Regular customers gather there late into the night to socialize, recite poetry and debate ideas over spiced coffee.
Coffee entrepreneur Mokhtar Alkhanshali, who built the Port of Mokha brand, told NPR in April 2025: "I get really emotional when I walk into these cafes and I see Yemen coffee becoming a thing."
The original home of Mocha
The word "mocha" comes directly from Al-Mukha, the Yemeni port that dominated the global coffee trade from the 16th and 18th centuries.
Today, Yemen's high-altitude volcanic terraces and traditional sun-drying methods still produce the beans' complex, fruity flavor.
Specialty grade Yemeni green coffee typically sells for $30 to $80 per kilogram, roughly eight to fifteen times the standard commodity price.
Rare auction lots have fetched far higher sums, including a 2025 record of $1,878 per kilogram for a natural Yemenia lot grown in Sana'a.
Yemen still produces a small fraction of global supply, but demand for its heirloom beans keeps climbing.