Honeysuckle, mandarin and black tea
Country: Kenya
Processing: Washed
Varietal:Batian, SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11
Region: Kirinyaga
The Kainamui factory serves about 1,800 smallholder coffee farmers who are members of the New Ngariama Farmers Cooperative Society, about 600 of whom are women. The smallholders own an average of 200 trees on less than half a hectare of land. Farmers in the area grow gravellea, macadamia nuts, eucalyptus, tea, corn, and bananas in addition to coffee. The factory receives field visits from agricultural ministers and agro-companies who offer training programs. The F.C.S. also provides prefinancing for farmers to allow them to pay school fees, production costs, and in case of emergencies.
Coffee in Kenya is typically traceable down to the factory, or mill level: Most farmers own between 1/8 to 1/4 of a hectare, and often grow crops other than coffee as well, which means they rely on a central processing unit for sale and processing of their coffee. Producers deliver in cherry form to a factory, where the cooperative will sort, weigh, and issue payment for the delivery. The coffee is then blended with the rest of the day's deliveries and goes on to be processed. Because of this system, which serves many hundreds to several thoughts of smallholder farmers per factory, there is limited traceability down to the individual producers whose coffee comprises the lots.