Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portuguese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Español | Tagalog / Filipino
Be sure to use the data import function in your favorite app for working with data.
If you'd like to help improve these translations, Contact Us.

The Kafa of Ethiopia

The Kafa of Ethiopia, numbering approximately 1,430,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnic group indigenous to the forested highlands of southwestern Ethiopia, primarily in the Kaffa Zone around the town of Bonga. They are best known historically as the people of the former Kingdom of Kaffa. They mostly adhere to Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity and Kafa is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Kafa

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Ethiopia
People Cluster: Omotic
Primary Language(s): Kafa (kbr)
Primary Religion(s): Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity
Population: 1,430,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011601
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile
Submit Updates

Pray for the Kafa of Ethiopia

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

45%
%
Tewahedo Orthodox Christi… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kafa
Language Family: Ta-Ne-Omotic

94%
%
Kafa Speakers

Media Resources in Kafa:

Films:
Title Link
JESUS View Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Kafa:

Bible Name (Translation) Video Audio Text
2010 SIM ✓ ✓ ✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Kafa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kafa are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Kafa:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Kafa of Ethiopia

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
readJohn 3:14-15

Pray that the lost among them will look to the One lifted up on the cross, believing in Him and receiving eternal life.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
readPsalm 67:4

Pray that God will use ways from in-person witnesses to digital gospel resources to bring the joy of His salvation to everyone so that they can be glad in Him and sing for joy.

Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of host.
readJeremiah 15:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will find joy and delight in the Word of the Lord.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
read1 Corinthians 9:20

Pray that believers from similar cultures will be compelled by Christ's love to reach people who don't know the gospel, and that those people will receive the good news with joy.

Kafa Across Countries (ROP3 - 104390) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

1 people group

Photo People Group ID Name Country Population ▲ Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Kafa PG011601 Kafa Ethiopia 1,430,000 Engaged yet Unreached Kafa Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

Scroll to Top