Khawlani Coffee Terraces

Coffee has been grown in the highlands of Jazan for centuries, on terraces cut into the steep slopes of the Khawlani country, and the knowledge and practices around that cultivation were inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2022. The trees are arabica of local varieties, grown under shade on stone terraces, hand-picked, dried on rooftops and roasted locally, with the husks used for qishr, a drink made from the shell rather than the bean. The farms are family holdings passed down with the knowledge, and a coffee festival and increasing commercial interest have brought attention and higher prices to a crop that had been declining.

What you actually see

• The stone terraces - the cut steps holding the coffee trees.
• Harvest and drying - the picking and the beans drying on roofs.
• Local roasting - the processing at the farms and villages.
• Qishr - the drink made from the coffee husk rather than the bean.

When to go

October to January for the harvest and processing, which is when there is most to see. The monsoon months from June to September are wet and misty. Farm visits need arranging rather than turning up.

Honest expectations

Farms are private family holdings and visits are by arrangement and often through a local contact. The mountain roads are steep and narrow. There is no visitor infrastructure. Prices for the coffee itself are high.

Nearby

Wadi Lajab lies north; the Fifa mountains are east.