About This Coffee
Edward Mungai Ngugi farms coffee on his 11.3 hectare farm, Mercy Estate. Situated in Ngewa-Komothai in Kiambu, Mercy Estate is less than an hour from Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi. Over the last few years, Nairobi has continued expanding in Kiambu and a significant quantity of farmland has been converted into urban space but Edward remains dedicated to farming.
Cultivation
Edward grows mostly SL28 and Ruiru 11 variety trees on his land. ‘SL’ varieties are cultivars originally released by Scott Agricultural Laboratories (SAL) in the 1930s and 1940s. They soon became the go-to trees for many growers in Kenya due to their deep root structure, which allows them to maximize scarce water resources and flourish even without irrigation. They are cultivated with a serious eye towards sustainability and Good Agricultural Practices, with minimal environmental impact where possible. Ruiru 11 is a newer variety known for its disease resistance and high yields. It also starts yielding fruit after just 2 years.
Many of Edward’s Ruiru 11 trees are grafted on to SL28 rootstock. Grafting these two trees together helps him take advantage of the deeper root structure of SL28 while gaining disease resistance and higher yields from Ruiru 11.
Kiambu is also famous for dairy production and some of the land of Mercy Estate is used for dairy cows. Edward also grows several other staple crops.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Traditionally, many farmers of this size in the country did not own their own processing equipment. They have historically delivered cherry to a centralized cooperative-owned ‘Factory’ (as washing stations are called, locally), where their production is combined with that of others from their region. Edward has his own, small wet mill where he is able to process his own coffee, ensuring full traceability back to his farm.
Cherry is selectively handpicked and then pulped. Coffee is then fermented before being washed in clean water to remove any remaining mucilage. All wastewater from the washing process is cleaned to ensure environmental impact is limited.
Parchment is transferred to raised beds where it sundries. Parchment is turned regularly to ensure even drying.
Even for farmers who may have their own processing setup, the dry-milling setup within Kenya does not well serve small-to-medium-size farmers. Dry mills have lot minimums, which are usually about 50 bags of parchment per lot. This is often unattainable for smaller farmers, necessitating that they merge their lots with others and lose traceability, which in turn lowers their overall returns and removes the potential for name recognition and direct-trade relationships.
To cater to single producer lots that are very small, Kahawa Bora Millers has a separate microlot milling line that was custom-made to hull (remove the parchment from the green coffee beans) lots as small as one bag at a time. This line makes it possible for growers to maintain their own ‘brand’ when selling their coffee. We feel this is a push in the right direction for Kenyan growers to gain market access to quality-focused buyers overseas.
About Kiambu
Kiambu is right outside Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi but is nonetheless known for agriculture – specifically coffee and tea. The county is also home of the Kenyan Coffee Research Foundation.
Kiambu County is also well known for its dairy production, and is the largest dairy producing county in Kenya. Many of the growers here adhere to organic fertilizing practices, using only cow manure instead of agrochemicals on their coffee trees.
Farmers in Kiambu face low production due to pests and disease while simultaneously having to pay high prices for inputs. In recent years, many have felt the strain and have sold their land to real-estate developers looking to build on the edge of Nairobi.
AB Grade
Kenyan coffees are classified by size. AB beans are those that are between screen size 15 and 18 meaning that beans are between 6 and 7 millimeters in size.
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.