Eastern plateau where wild arabica grows at roughly 1,200-2,200 m, genetically distinct from Ethiopian arabica. Its forest habitat has shrunk sharply.
The Boma Plateau, in the east of Pibor County on the Ethiopian border, in South Sudan's Greater Pibor Administrative Area, holds wild Coffea arabica at roughly 1,200-2,200 m. A 2021 study found these populations genetically distinct from Ethiopian arabica and argued that Boma is a centre of origin of the species alongside Ethiopia. Suitable forest habitat has largely disappeared, and researchers fear the plants sampled in 2012 may be lost.
Field notes
- i
The 2012 expedition, led by Sarada Krishnan, Tim Schilling and Aaron Davis, collected leaf tissue rather than seeds, so the material could not be propagated.
- ii
Civil war from 2013 and ongoing violence have prevented researchers from returning.
- iii
Wild arabica survived at Barbuk, at about 1,350 m, as a few poor-health trees in 2012, while Rume, at about 1,250 m, had lost its forest.
- iv
Mapped forest cover on the plateau fell from 16.2 km2 in 2000 to 15.3 km2 in 2020.
Varietals
Elsewhere in South Sudan
Sources · 5 Every sentence here was checked against a source we read. Taste notes are what guides describe, not promises about your bag. Last revised 2026-11-10. Some details here are less settled than others.
- Validating South Sudan as a Center of Origin for Coffea arabica · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems (Krishnan et al., 2021)
- A coffee treasure found, and possibly lost again · World Coffee Research
- South Sudanese Coffee: A Tale of Resilience and Potential · Omwani
- Boma, South Sudan · Wikipedia
- REACH South Sudan county profile: Pibor (September 2022) · REACH / IMPACT Initiatives