The coffee industry of Kenya is noted for its cooperative system of milling, marketing, and auctioning coffee, and for its high percentage of production from small farms. It is estimated that six-million Kenyans are employed directly or indirectly in the coffee industry. The major coffee growing regions in Kenya are the High Plateaus around Mt. Kenya, the Aberdare Range, Kisii, Nyanza, Bungoma, Nakuru and Kericho. The high plateaus of Mount Kenya, plus the acidic soil provide excellent conditions for growing coffee plants. Coffee from Kenya is well known for its intense flavor, full body, and pleasant aroma.
Kenya coffee production dates back one hundred years. Coffee was originally discovered in Ethiopia, Kenya’s neighbour to the north. Unfortunately, just as in other coffee growing regions of the world, the coffee trade in Kenya triggered heated and bloody battles over the prime growing lands. The Arabs, who monopolized the coffee trade for several hundred years, killed and enslaved many thousand Kenyans and put them to work in coffee production both in Kenya coffee fields and on Arabian coffee plantations.
All Kenyan coffee is of the Arabica variety, grown on rich volcanic soils in the highlands of Kenya. Small holders with small plots of land produce most of the coffee similar to Ethiopia. They are members of cooperative societies which process their own coffee.
There are two flowerings in each season. The blossom normally appears shortly after the beginning of the long rains in March and April. In most districts, the main crop ripens from October until the end of the year. The second and smaller flowering comes with the short rains in October or November. These are picked in the early part of the season, often starting the following June.
During the harvest, only red ripe cherries are picked, and always by hand. This entails frequent picking rounds with each tree picked every ten days or so. Next comes the processing that is important in Kenya exceptional quality.
Republic of Kenya
Capital: Nairobi
Area: 582,650 sq km
Borders to: Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan,
Population: approx. 30.7 million
Official language: English and Kiswahili
Religions: Prostestants (38%), Catholic (28%), Muslim(20%), Indigenous/other beliefs(27%)
Literacy: 78.1 % of adult population (over 15 years)
Est. infant mortality: 68 per 1,000 live births
Life expectancy: 48 (Women), 47 (Men)
Type: Republic
President: Mwai Kibaki (since Dec. 2002)
GDP: $45.6 billion , $1,500 per capita
Agriculture is 25% of GDP and 75-80% of employment. Services are 62% of GDP.
Currency: Kenyan shilling (KES)
Natural resources and crops: gold, limestone, soda ash, salt barites, coffee, tea, corn, wheat, fruit, vegetables, sugarcane
