A Record Is Not Enough Ethiopia's coffee windfall, and what reached the farm gate By Wondwossen Mezlekia Part 4 of a five-part series. Parts 1, 2 and 3 published June 26, 28 and 30, 2026. Part 4: The trees, and the land under them Scheduled Sunday, July 5, 2026 The part of this story I admire is the part happening in the soil. Too much of Ethiopia's coffee grows on trees that are simply too old. The Authority says a large share are past their productive prime, some more than a century old, and the national stumping campaign is the right answer to that. Cut the spent tree back, let it regrow, and with care the yield can rise sharply within several years. Field evidence from the south supports it. By the 2025/26 harvest, stumped trees covered around a sixth of the harvested area, with Oromia out front. Add the improved seedlings and the planting drive, and the production outlook reflects it: the USDA projects 2026/27 output at 12.1 million...