Description

Wolichu Wachu washing station was built in 2017 by the Harso Haru Mude Farmer Cooperative. Many washing stations in Guji and across Ethiopia are older and were established in the 1980s or 1990s. Wolichu Wachu has been able to benefit from 30+ years of accumulated knowledge about washing stations in Ethiopia. 

The way this knowledge impacted the station can be seen in many ways, but one immediately apparent way is the station’s layout. By positioning intake at the top of a small incline and placing subsequent processing steps further and further down the hill, the station can take advantage of gravity and increase its overall efficiency. At the bottom of the hill, the spacious and well-organized drying field gets even, predictable sunlight. Thanks to their layout, the station does not need the pumps that many older stations use to move coffee through the processing infrastructure.