The Kafficho people are an

ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

hailing from

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. As of 2007, they accounted for only 1.2% of Ethiopia's population. Most of the Kafficho live in Ethiopia's Keffa,

South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region The Southwest Ethiopia Region, officially the Southwest Ethiopia Peoples' Regional State () is a regional state in southwestern Ethiopia. It was split off from the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) on 23 November 2021 ...

region. Their traditional language, Kafa or Kaffinono, is still spoken among much of the population.

Coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

may derive its name from the Kafa zone, where it was first cultivated, though this is considered unlikely. The

Kingdom of Kaffa The Kingdom of Kaffa was a kingdom located in what is now Ethiopia from 1390 to 1897, with its first capital at Bonga. The Gojeb River formed its northern border, beyond which lay the Gibe kingdoms; to the east the territory of the Konta and ...

was established in 1390 and lasted until 1897, when it was fully integrated into the

Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire, historically known as Abyssinia or simply Ethiopia, was a sovereign state that encompassed the present-day territories of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It existed from the establishment of the Solomonic dynasty by Yekuno Amlak a ...

, of which it had previously been an intermittent tributary. While the Kingdom's economy had relied largely on the export of gold and slaves, the modern Kafficho are agriculturalists. In September 2021, the Kaffa people held a referendum to create a new region, Ethiopia's 11th, called the

South West Southwest is a compass point. Southwest, south-west, south west, southwestern or south-western or south western may also refer to: * Southwest (direction), an intercardinal direction Geography *South West Queensland, Australia *South West (Weste ...

and made up of Kaffa and five other nearby administrative areas. Kafficho noblemen

References

{{authority control Ethnic groups in Ethiopia