How an Ethiopian coffee farmer inspired Hugh Jackman to build a business supporting farming families

A meeting in Ethiopia in 2009 changed how actor Hugh Jackman viewed coffee, inspiring him to launch Laughing Man Coffee and support farming communities through healthcare, housing, education and livelihood programmes. In 2009, Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman travelled to Ethiopia with humanitarian organisation World Vision and met a 27-year-old coffee farmer named Dukale, whose determination to support his family despite difficult circumstances left a lasting impression on him. The encounter eventually inspired Jackman to establish Laughing Man Coffee and the Laughing Man Foundation, turning his interest in coffee into an effort to support farming communities. According to World Vision and the foundation’s official website, the initiative has since supported programmes involving healthcare, safe housing, scholarships and community development.The story began in Ethiopia’s Yirgacheffe region, widely associated with the country’s coffee-growing tradition. Jackman and his then wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, visited the area to learn about community development initiatives supported by World Vision. During the trip, they met Dukale, a young farmer working to improve his family’s circumstances...