The centuries-old Red Sea port of Mokha, a historic center in the global coffee trade, was recently seized by Houthi forces amid Yemen’s ongoing civil conflict. Renowned from the 16th to 18th centuries for its dominance in coffee commerce and its role in giving the world the term “mocha,” Mokha’s strategic location near the Bab el-Mandab Strait makes it a crucial asset in the current power struggle.

Mokha’s significance dates back to the late 1500s when the Ottoman Empire transformed the city from a modest fishing village into a major coffee trading hub. Yemen’s highlands around Mokha became a vital site for large-scale coffee cultivation, with exports spreading throughout the Ottoman territories. To maintain control over the trade, the Ottomans enforced a strict coffee monopoly, restricting the export of viable coffee beans by mandating they be roasted or boiled first to prevent unauthorized cultivation elsewhere. This monopoly was famously breached in the 17th century when, according to historical accounts, a Muslim pilgrim named Baba Budan smuggled coffee seeds out of Yemen, initiating coffee cultivation in other regions.

Beyond its commerce, Mokha’s geographic position near the Bab el-Mandab Strait—a narrow passage linking the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean—has long made it strategically valuable. Control of the port equates to critical influence over one of the world’s busiest maritime chokepoints, an advantage that extends beyond commercial interests to broader regional power dynamics.

Although Mokha’s coffee prominence diminished in the 20th century, with a modern port established only in the 1950s, Yemen’s coffee industry faced significant challenges. Much of the country’s arable land, including historic coffee-growing areas, shifted to the cultivation of khat, a psychoactive plant widely consumed domestically. Experts note that khat cultivation strains Yemen’s fragile economy and water resources, strengthening the influence of groups like the Houthis who control major water supplies.

In recent years, efforts emerged to revive Yemen’s coffee sector and offer farmers an economic alternative to khat. Businessman Mokhtar Alkhanshali, who connects thousands of Yemeni coffee farmers to international markets, emphasized the potential of coffee farming to improve livelihoods and provide hope for the nation. However, the recent intensification of Yemen’s conflict has disrupted these developments, placing farmers at physical risk and hindering export opportunities.

“The port that should be shipping that coffee to the world is a battlefield,” Alkhanshali said, highlighting the immediate impact of the renewed fighting on Yemen’s historic trade legacy and the prospects for economic recovery. As the conflict persists, control over Mokha remains central to both the strategic calculus of warring factions and the future of Yemen’s coffee heritage.