Meet Jaber
Jaber Al Malki grew up surrounded by coffee in the mountains of Jazan, where he used to help his father harvest the Khawlani coffee beans that are a specialty of the Jazan region in southernmost Saudi Arabia. At the age of 25, he followed his father’s footsteps and started planting his own trees.
With Aramco’s support, Jaber now has 3,000 trees in his farm, and an expanding coffee production business, with four coffee bean blends that he sells at local stores and delivers to customers abroad.
Aramco’s support for coffee farmers
Coffee cultivation in the mountainous Jazan region has a long and rich history. Local farmers have been growing coffee beans for hundreds of years and contributing to the local economy. But, in the past, these local farmers have also struggled to make a living due to challenging growing conditions and lack of access to markets. This all changed recently, with the Jazan coffee industry seeing a remarkable transformation, and the region’s share of the Saudi market increasing.
In 2016, Aramco supported an initiative to improve soil and farming conditions across six districts in Jazan, that trained more than 1,000 local coffee farmers in the latest cultivation methods, installed smart irrigation systems to save water, and provided nutrients and high-quality fertilizers for their soil.
To find out more about Jaber’s story and learn about our coffee program, please follow the link below.
