Forget the bitter stories, my coffee still drips with sweet returns

Kithinji Kabiru works at his coffee farm in Kibugu, Embu North. (PHOTO: JOSEPH MUCHIRI/ STANDARD)

When the coffee sub-sector was on the verge of collapse in 1990s and early 2000s, many farmers abandoned the crop.

Despite the many problems in the sector, one farmer from Kibugu, Embu North sub-county kept hope alive.

In addition to the global factors that contributed to depressing prices the crop was fetching, Kithinji Kabiru was well aware that cartels and middlemen were also to blame for exploiting farmers.

To avoid their trap, he decided to add value to his raw coffee.

This was not an easy process. Kabiru has fought all negative forces and is now one of the respected coffee growers in the county.

For his efforts, in 2015 he was feted as the overall winner of Dorman Regional Quality Award.

Determined

Kabiru, 66, is the director and proprietor of Mbeguka Coffee Factory that sells at least 70,000 kilos of processed coffee per year earning about Sh7 million.

He harvests all this coffee from his farm. Before venturing into coffee farming in 1992, he was a senior clerk at the Ministry of Works but the passion for farming made him quit employment.

Owing to poor prices over the years, he has seen many farmers uproot their bushes and replaced them with bananas, macadamia or horticultural crops.

“The poor leadership and corruption in coffee cooperatives coupled with brokers in the industry resulted into meagre remunerations. This made farmers switch from coffee to other crops,” he says.

Despite the many problems that bogged the sector, Kabiru was determined to make it.

“I kept inquiring how I could establish my factory. I learned that with over four acres of coffee I could be licensed to start a factory. I had more than the required coffee trees so I got a licence in 2002 from the Coffee Board of Kenya,” he recalls.

Kabiru also bought a simple pulping machine that he installed in his home. He started pulping his own coffee the same year and his earnings improved gradually while he worked to improve quality and quantity to maximise returns.

This year, Kabiru anticipates selling over 100,000 kilos of the produce.

Kabiru has 12 acres of land under the crop. He grows three varieties of coffee.

He has 5,000 stems of SL28, SL34 and Ruiru 11 varieties planted at a spacing of 9 by 9 feet.

On average, each coffee stem in Kenya yields between 1-2 kg of coffee cherries per season but Kabiru’s coffee yields at least 15kgs and above per tree.

“Increasing cherries per tree can be achieved by embracing good husbandry for instance, fertiliser application and pruning,” he shares.

Obed Njamura, an agricultural extension officer based in Kyeni Division, says a single coffee bush can yield as much as 40 kgs of cherry per season if well managed.

He advises farmers to apply enough manure and fertiliser and improve pruning schedules for a bumper harvest.

Every day, Kabiru engages about 20 workers in his coffee plantation but during harvesting period, he employs over 70 casual labourers with each earning Sh400 daily.

Although coffee is harvested once in a year, mainly the last quarter of the year, there is work all year around.

“There is application of manure and chemicals, weeding and pruning among other things,” he says.

After harvesting red ripe coffee berries, Kabiru and his workers work to remove unwanted berries, pulps and then wash the beans.

The hurdles

He uses the wet processing method which involves removing the pulp from the coffee cherry so that the bean is dried with only the parchment skin left on. For the processing, first, the freshly harvested cherries are passed through a pulping machine to separate the skin and pulp from the bean.

Then the beans are separated by weight as they pass through water channels. The lighter beans float to the top, while the heavier ripe beans sink to the bottom.

They are passed through a series of rotating tanks which separate them by size.

Separated beans are then put to water filled fermentation tanks for three days. When fermentation stage is complete the beans are then dried to approximately 11 per cent moisture content to properly prepare them for storage then taken to the miller.

Kabiru takes his coffee for milling at the Kenya Central Coffee mill, in Karatina and also at Sasini Coffee mill in Kiambu County.

After milling into powder, the millers marketing agencies sell the coffee directly to KICKAPOO Coffee roasters in North America.

Kabiru still faces some hurdles.

Pulping and milling his coffee is a challenge.

Fluctuations in global prices is an issue because prices are dictated by foreign farms where price can fall from Sh150 to Sh90 per kilo between two subsequent seasons.