The Kamviu factory is operated by the Gakundu Farmers Cooperative Society (F.C.S.), which has about 1,262 active farmer members. These smallholders grow tea and coffee as their primary crops, but they also raise corn, beans, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, bananas, cassava, and arrowroot.
The farmers bring their cherry to the factory the same day of harvest, and at the factory the coffee is sorted and separated before being depulped using a traditional four-disc depulper. After depulping, the coffee is fermented overnight for 15–23 hours, then washed three times using fresh river water from the Muriuriu River. After washing, it is sent traveling through channels to soaking tanks, where it is held underwater until there is space available on the drying tables. Drying can take between 7–15 days, being turned and rotated constantly throughout the process. Water used in washing is diverted to soaking pits where it is stored to evaporate without contaminating the freshwater used in processing.
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.
For more information about coffee production in Kenya, visit our Kenya page.
