Coffee Growers' Indigenous Environmental Knowledge to Conserve Natural Resources during Coffee Production in Guji Zone of Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of indigenous environmental knowledge of Guji coffee farmers toward the conservation of coffee and other natural resources. The Guji Oromo are one of the ancient peoples that have been able to preserve many aspects of their way of life under the Gada system. For centuries, they used local environmental wisdom for coffee production, controlling the influence of human beings on the environment, and preserving the natural environment for the coming generation. However, the management of natural resources and the environmental awareness of coffee producers have not received enough attention from scholars. The Guji coffee growers' environmental and ethics (safuu) have never been fully studied. This research utilized both primary and secondary data sources. The study has been developed based on qualitative data sources. As a result, several circumstances, such as population pressure, conquest, regime changes, modern religion, and education, lack of familiarity with current technologies, and knowledge gaps are a few factors that affect Indigenous environmental knowledge and farmers’ perception of the environment. The study's findings suggest that the environmental knowledge of coffee farmers benefited from the understanding and conservation of their local environment, effective knowledge of coffee cultivation, harvesting, and processing to raise soil fertility, protect plants from excessive environmental stress, and increase coffee yields.