About This Coffee
Kieni Factory (as washing stations in Kenya are called) sits a few kilometers outside the town of Karatina in Nyeri County (in a small hamlet called Konyu). The factory is managed by Mugaga Farmers’ Cooperative Society and, today, receives cherry from around 1,000 members.
Mugaga manages 5 washing stations, including Kagumoini, Kieni, Kiamabara, Gathugu and Gatina, and has over 4,800 member farmers. In addition to managing washing stations that help their members garner high prices for their coffee, Mugaga works to alleviate a number of barriers to success that frequently thwart their members.
Many members have low yields due to a combination of a lack of inputs, older rootstock and attacks from pests and disease. Mugaga provides resources to help member farmers improve yields. They also have programs that focus on increasing participation among young people and women in coffee. As we can see from their numbers, they have been very successful so far. A full third of their members are women, especially impressive when compared to many other cooperative gender ratios.
Cultivation
Farmers delivering to Kieni Factory, on average, farm around 200 trees each. This breaks down to about a tenth of a hectare per farmer. The primary varieties grown are SL28 and SL34, renowned for their exceptional cup quality, with Batian and Ruiru 11.
Farm labor is usually entirely provided by family members. Many of the farmers also grow tea, maize and legumes to consume or sell at local markets for additional cash income.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Farmers selectively handpick ripe cherry and deliver it directly to Kieni or a nearby collection point. Cherry is hand sorted at intake, and damaged, overripe and underripe cherry is removed before pulping. The role of the cherry clerk, who must ensure that only the ripest cherry is processed, is of paramount importance.
Cherry is pulped using a disc pulper and is then fermented for 16 to 24 hours before being washed through grading channels with clean water to remove any remaining mucilage. Parchment at Kieni is then soaked in soaking tanks for around 24 hours
After soaking, wet parchment is moved to raised beds. Once on the raised beds, parchment is turned regularly to ensure even drying and covered at the hottest part of the day and during evenings to prevent cracking and/or condensation. Drying time is usually 5 to 21 days depending on the weather at the time.
AA Grade
Kenyan coffees are classified by size. AA beans are the largest size. AA grade coffees are those that are 17/18 screen size, meaning that they are larger than 7.2 millimeters.
About SL28 & SL34
SL28 and SL34 were two of the cultivars released by Scott Agricultural Laboratories (SAL) during the height of SAL’s research in Kenya in the 1930s and 1940s. They soon became the cultivars of choice for most growers thanks to their deep root structure that allows them to maximize scarce water resources and flourish even without irrigation. SL varieties also had higher yields than the French Bourbon rootstock that they replaced and were known to be somewhat more disease resistant.
About Ruiru 11
Ruiru 11, a hybrid of Catimor and SL cultivars, is both Coffee Berry Disease (CBD) and Coffee Leaf Rust (CLR) resistant. Plus, it can be planted at a much higher density than the SL varieties, making optimal use of small plots of land.
Ruiru 11 has slowly ‘taken root’ across most of Kenya’s coffee growing landscape. The only issues were that with a shallower root structure, many farmers found the plant less hardy in drought conditions, and the trees required a more intense feeding program. Over time, farmers have found that by grafting Ruiru-11 to SL varieties they could take advantage of SL trees’ expansive root system and still reap the increased yields and higher immunity to disease of Ruiru-11.
Due to the grafted Ruiru-11’s growing popularity, most farms in Kenya today, both big and small, have a mixture of Ruiru-11 and SL varieties. As SL trees age, many farmers are opting to turn more towards Ruiru-11 (or the grafting solution) thanks to its ease of use and higher resistance to diseases.
Source: https://varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org/varieties/ruiru-11 & https://sucafina.com/na/news/think-you-know-kenya-coffee-varieties-think-again
About Batian
Developed by Kenya's Coffee Research Institute in 2010, Batian is named after the highest peak on Mt. Kenya and is resistant to both coffee berry disease (CBD) and coffee leaf rust (CLR). The variety has the added benefit of early maturity – cropping after only two years. Some challenges (such as vegetative structure) have prevented it from becoming widespread so far, but its popularity is certainly growing.
About Kirinyaga
Kirinyaga County is nestled at the foothills of Mt. Kenya, roughly 112 km from Nairobi. The region is well-known for its exceptional coffee. Sucafina partners with numerous coffee farmers and cooperatives in the region, working with them to improve processing capacity, access to agricultural inputs and agricultural practices.
The locals in this area call Mt. Kenya ‘Kirinyaga’, the namesake of the county, meaning the crest of whiteness due to its famous snow-capped peaks.
Coffee in Kenya
Though coffee growing had a relatively late start in Kenya, the industry has gained and maintained a impressive reputation. Since the start of production, Kenyan coffee has been recognized for its high-quality, meticulous preparation and exquisite flavors. Our in-country sister company, Sucafina Kenya, works with farmers across the country to ensure these exceptional coffees gain the accolades they deserve.
Today, more than 600,000 smallholders farming fewer than 5 acres compose 99% of the coffee farming population of Kenya. Their farms cover more than 75% of total coffee growing land and produce nearly 70% of the country’s coffee. These farmers are organized into hundreds of Farmer Cooperative Societies (FCS), all of which operate at least one factory. The remainder of annual production is grown and processed by small, medium and large land estates. Most of the larger estates have their own washing stations.
Most Kenyan coffees are fully washed and dried on raised beds. The country still upholds its reputation for high quality and attention to detail at its many washing stations. The best factories employ stringent sorting practices at cherry intake, and many of them have had the same management staff in place for years.