Wangaki Embu AA

Francis Kihanda brings a great wealth of knowledge to his farm, Waganki. For many years, he was a Principal Research Office with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). There, he worked on a wide range of research initiatives based at KARI’s Embu Agricultural Research Station, including climate change mitigation in agriculture. Francis is retired now, but he applies his experience and wisdom to the cultivation of Waginki farm, in Kenya’s Embu County on the slopes of Mount Kenya.

The farm’s 3 hectares are planted with the traditional SL28 and SL34. ‘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 to sustainability and Good Agricultural Practices, with minimal environmental impact where possible.

Francis collaborates with a great team of agronomists and field officers at Sucafina/Kahawa Bora to maximize the potential of his small farm. From soil analysis to pruning best practices, he receives expert support in cultivating the best possible coffee and improving his yields.

Wangaki is categorized as a ‘small estate’ in Kenya. This sector has, until recently, been frequently overlooked.

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. Francis, however, 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 for 24 hours in a small tank before being washed in clean water to remove any remaining mucilage. All waste water from the washing process is cleaned to ensure environmental impact is limited.

Parchment is transferred to raised beds where it sundries for approximately 7 days. As it dries, parchment is turned regularly to ensure even drying. 

Even for farmers who may have their own processing setup, the dry-milling set-up 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, losing traceability, which in turn which lowers their overall returns and removes pthe otential for name recognition and direct-trade relationship.

To cater for single producer lots that are very small, Kahawa Bora/Sucafina 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. 

Embu County lies just to the east of Mouth Kenya, with a good portion of land reaching into the foothills. Soil and climate in the region are ideal for farming coffee. Some of the country’s earliest factories (wet mills) were established here, and today some of Kenya’s best coffees come from this beautiful region.

Today, farmers across the region (like many in Kenya) face the dual challenges of low productivity combined with land fragmentation (smaller plot sizes). This makes the agronomic and technical support from our team at Sucafina in Kenya (Kenyacof) all the more important.