Abstract
In Gedeo zone, coffee quality is declining from time to time due to several improper pre and post-harvest management practices. Therefore, this study was designed with the objective of assessing impact of pre and post-harvest management practices on Coffea arabica L. quality determining factors in Gedeo zone, Southern Ethiopia. Totally, 90 household respondents were used from three Woredas and selected purposively. Finally, quantitative data was analyzed by employing SPSS (version 20). In pre harvesting practices, the result indicated that most of the respondents owned old coffee trees (>20 years), prune their tree frequently within one year interval and observed various diseases on their coffee tree. According to the survey result, majority of farmers use shade trees, which is the most common cropping practiced by coffee producing farmers in the study area, and majority of the farmers use dry method of coffee processing. Descriptive statistics of the field survey revealed that majority responded the provision of support and training from the respective Agricultural research and Development offices. On the contrary, the coffee farming family suffered from shortage of money as well as time at harvesting stage of coffee. On the side of traders, they received extension services in maintaining coffee quality in particular. Most of the traders in the study area in order to buy and sell coffee, did not get advises from market advisers. In general, most management practices in addition to trading methods in the study area have problems in maintaining coffee quality in the zone. Key words: Coffea arabica L, coffee quality, pre-harvest, post-harvest, Gedeo zone.  
Highlights
Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) is a non-alcoholic stimulant beverage crop that belongs to the family Rubiaceae and genus Coffea
Despite the favorable climatic conditions, variety of local coffee types for quality improvement and long history of its production in Gedeo zone, coffee quality is declining from time to time due to several improper pre and post-harvest management practices
Gedeo extends south as a narrow strip of land along the eastern escarpment of the Ethiopian highlands into the Oromia Region, which borders the zone on the east, south and west; Gedeo shares its northern boundary with Sidama zone
Summary
Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) is a non-alcoholic stimulant beverage crop that belongs to the family Rubiaceae and genus Coffea. Ethiopia is known for producing the finest Arabica coffee to the world market (Herhaus, 2014); the deterioration of the quality of coffee produced is a major challenge in the country (Birhanu et al, 2013). Ethiopia is well known for being the home of Arabica coffee, and for its very fine quality coffee acclaimed for its aroma and flavor characteristics. Coffee is distinguished based on unique characteristics which includes Sidamo, Yirgachefe, Harar, Gimbi, Jimma and Limmu coffee types (Anwar, 2010). Coffee produced in some parts of Ethiopia, especially from Harrar and Yirgachefe, is always sold at a premium price both at domestic and international coffee markets because of its distinctive fine quality (Chifra et al, 1998; ITC, 2002) and appropriate processing approach. Ethiopia possesses a diverse genetic base for the Arabica coffee with considerable heterogeneity and is the center of origin for Coffee arabica, even though Ethiopia produces a range of distinctive Arabica coffees and has considerable potential to sell a large number of specialty coffee (Gebreselassie et al, 2017)
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