Ongoing attacks in the Red Sea are forcing cargo ships, including those carrying coffee from Asia to Europe, to take long and costly detours around Africa. This disruption to the modern coffee supply chain has deep historical roots in the region, originating in the very port that gave coffee its famous name: Mocha, Yemen.
From the 16th to the 18th century, the port of Mocha held a global monopoly on the coffee trade. All commercially cultivated coffee, grown in Yemen's highlands, passed through its docks to the Middle East and Europe. The port's dominance ended after fertile coffee seeds were smuggled out and cultivated by colonial powers in places like Java and, eventually, Brazil. As global competition grew, Mocha's harbor silted up, and the once-thriving center of the coffee world faded into a small fishing town.
The collapse of the coffee economy had lasting consequences for Yemen. Many farmers switched to growing qat, a water-intensive stimulant leaf. This agricultural shift has contributed to a severe water crisis, with qat cultivation reportedly consuming over 40% of the country's renewable water resources. The resulting ecological and economic distress, particularly in the country's north, created conditions that fostered the rise of the Houthi movement. Today, the group exercises control over the same strategic coastline that once brought Yemen its coffee fortunes, now using it to disrupt the very trade routes its ancestors established.