Nigerian Coffee, on the Global Sustainability Stage
Building a coffee industry where quality, sustainability and shared value begin at origin.
For Mai Shayi Coffee, sustainability was never intended to sit beside the business as a separate initiative. It is built into the way we grow coffee, work with farming communities, invest in agricultural systems, process our harvests and create value in Nigeria.
That approach has now received international recognition.
Mai Shayi Coffee was selected as a finalist in the 2026 Specialty Coffee Association Sustainability Awards, placing our work within an international conversation around innovation, collaboration and positive impact across the coffee value chain.
For us, the recognition represents something larger: evidence that Nigerian coffee can compete not only on quality, but on the strength of the systems being built around it.
Sustainability Begins at Origin
Our work starts in the highlands of Plateau State.
Through the Mai Shayi Coffee Cooperative Society, we work with smallholder farmers to strengthen the foundations of coffee production through training, quality inputs, access to finance and more stable pathways to market. The objective is not simply to purchase coffee after harvest, but to help create the conditions in which coffee farming can become a more productive, dignified and economically viable enterprise.
That philosophy extends to how we invest in the land itself.
Our agricultural operations incorporate 100% solar-powered irrigation, drip irrigation, water stewardship practices, organic soil fertility management and 1,500 indigenous shade trees. Coffee pulp is also returned to productive use through composting and recycling-oriented processes.
These are not isolated sustainability projects. Together, they form part of a production system designed to use resources more efficiently, protect soil health and build greater resilience at origin.
Building the Future of Nigerian Arabica
Sustainability also means thinking beyond the next harvest.
Mai Shayi has invested in tissue culture, genetics and seedling propagation to strengthen the long-term future of Nigerian Arabica. Our Tissue Culture and Hydroponics Laboratory supports the development of healthy and consistent planting material, while our work in genetics helps us better understand characteristics connected to productivity, resilience and cup quality.
Alongside this sits our coffee-processing infrastructure, creating a connected system from planting material and farming through processing, quality control and roasting.
This vertical integration gives us greater control over traceability and quality, while allowing more of the value created by Nigerian coffee to remain connected to its origin.
Sustainability Must Include People
A sustainable coffee industry cannot be built around agriculture alone. It must create meaningful opportunities for the people within it.
Mai Shayi Coffee currently reports a workforce of 194 employees, 65% of whom are women, alongside wider farmer engagement, training and skills development across the coffee value chain.
From farms and processing to roasting, hospitality and consumer education, our model is designed to connect agricultural development with employment, technical knowledge and premium market access.
The result is an ecosystem in which the value of coffee does not begin only when a finished bag reaches a shelf. It begins with the people who grow it.
From Nigerian Soil to Global Recognition
Quality remains fundamental to this work.
Our coffees undergo professional external assessment, including evaluation through NKG Quality Service, while our relationship with Cenicafé, Colombia’s National Coffee Research Center, contributes research depth to our agronomic and post-harvest systems.
Recent harvests have recorded cupping scores reaching 88.00, demonstrating the premium potential that can emerge when investment at origin, technical discipline and careful processing come together.
The 2026 SCA Sustainability Awards recognition therefore represents more than a milestone for Mai Shayi Coffee.
It places a Nigerian coffee company — and, by extension, the possibilities within Nigerian coffee — on an increasingly global stage. The recognition strengthens the credibility of a model built around quality, environmental responsibility, local value creation and participation across the value chain.
The Work Continues
Nigeria’s coffee renaissance will not be built in a single harvest.
It requires better planting material, stronger farmers, responsible agricultural systems, processing infrastructure, technical expertise, access to premium markets and consumers who understand the value of what is being produced.
That is the system Mai Shayi Coffee is working to build.
From the highlands of Plateau State to our roastery and coffee houses in Abuja and Lagos, every part of the business is connected by the same idea:
Value should not simply be extracted at origin and captured downstream. It should be created together — and shared across the journey from soil to cup.
And as Nigerian coffee earns greater recognition beyond our borders, our ambition remains the same: to build an industry capable of creating lasting value at home while earning its place among the world’s respected coffee origins.