KENYA NDAROINI WASHING STATION

Recommended Retail Price: £15/250g

Tasting Notes: Kenyan coffee at its best. Juicy and layered, leading with intense raspberry and ripe purple plum balanced by toasted marshmallow sweetness.

Region: Nyeri
Altitude: 1,600-1,800 masl
Variety: Ruiru 11, SL-34, Batian, SL-28
Process: Washed

This coffee was grown by smallholder farmers who collectively own the Ndaroini washing station, or factory as they’re known in Kenya. The factory is located in the heart of Nyeri County, near the town of Karatina, just southwest of Mt. Kenya National Park. With approximately 3,200 active farmer members delivering their harvest annually, Ndaroini factory has been called revolutionary for its fair operating practices. In 2019 the farmers organised and parted ways from the Gikanda Cooperative Society, which had previously owned and operated the factory. Now, as a collectively owned public limited company, each farmer owns 10 shares, they have an annual election and vote for their chairman and committee. 

Upon arrival at the factory, farmers sort the cherries, removing any under ripe or overripe ones. The sorted cherries are pulped the same day using an eco-pulper, which is more efficient and ecological than traditional pulping machines because it uses less water. The wastewater from the pulping process is one of the main sources of pollution from washed coffees at the farm level. After pulping, farmers take the cherry skins back to their farms to convert them into fertiliser.

After the skin and some of the pulp are removed the cherries are moved to fermentation tanks where they stay for 12 to 18 hours. This fermentation stage decomposes the remaining fruit pulp, or mucilage, so that it can be washed off the layer of parchment surrounding the beans. After fermentation, the parchment is washed, separated by density and graded by size. Following grading the parchment is dried on raised beds for 10 to 14 days. 

The next stage of the process, milling and export, has undergone some significant changes in the last few years. In an effort to revive Kenya’s flagging coffee sector the government has voted in a set of reforms that change the way coffee can be sold to exporters and the way payments are made to farmers. Though coffee is one of the country’s biggest cash crops, export volume has been decreasing for over 20 years. The decreasing yields are largely due to erratic weather and pests, made worse by climate change, an ageing farmer population and a steady reduction of planted land due to urbanisation. 

The new policies aim to break up monopolies that have formed as companies have consolidated the different roles in the supply chain by controlling the milling, marketing, export and payments to farmers. According to a 2021 blog post by coffee expert Christopher Feran that went viral in the industry, “Producers in Kenya are removed from the commercial market, their coffee passing through a Byzantine and colonial export system that centralizes sales through an auction system with exporters in the position of greatest power, sacrificing traceability and financial transparency along the way.” In short, Kenyan farmers were systemically disenfranchised. 

It’s possible to see the evolution of Ndaroini factory as a small-scale model of the bigger changes in the country’s coffee sector. Since taking over control of operations in 2019, the farmers report that their yields have increased every year, except for the most recent one when their crop was hit by coffee berry disease. In addition, they are reportedly the best paid farmers in the region. Increases in volume and profit are due to the farmers having more agency in the operation of the washing station. 

The country-wide reforms are designed to accomplish the same thing. According to a post on Coffee Intelligence, previously “the law made it easy for wealthier intermediaries to trade coffee, but almost impossible for small-scale farmers to mill or sell their own crop. This allowed intermediaries to exploit farmers, effectively forcing them to settle for low prices – as they were the only ones with direct market access.” According to the post, to change this the reforms reviewed existing licences held by millers and marketing agents, with a focus on breaking up entities that held multiple roles – a miller, marketing agents, exporter, warehouse manager, and logistics provider under one roof. In addition, farmers’ payments are being managed by a centralised platform called a Direct Settlement System, which is intended to prevent the late payments that have been endemic in the Kenyan coffee trade. 

The reforms, some of which came into effect for the first time this last harvest year, have received a mixed reception. Some farmers are disappointed about the support they received from the government for navigating the new payments system. In addition, the importer who brought us this coffee, Nordic Approach, reports that unlike under the previous system, their exporters have had to wait for coffees to enter the auction before getting samples and making purchases. “This means they can’t buy coffee directly from cooperatives, or get access to early samples through mills or marketing agents they were previously affiliated with. For producers and cooperatives, the inability to directly sell to exporters removes a crucial avenue to market their products.” They also write that there were some delays because milling, which used to be done by private and government owned mills is now expected to be done almost entirely by government owned mills, who struggled to cope with the increased volumes.

It’ll be interesting to see how the reforms play out in the coming harvest years and whether they’ll effectively turn production volumes around. Either way, we’ll keep working to buy and roast the most delicious coffee we can from this unique origin.

Sources:

Ndaroini Coffee – Best Coffee Producers in Kenya

How Ndaroini growers started a coffee revolution in Kenya – Clandestino Coffee

Farmers receive highest coffee pay in Nyeri | Nation

Navigating Change: Kenya’s Evolving Specialty Coffee Market | Nordic Approach

Why are people calling for reform in Kenyan coffee production? - Perfect Daily Grind

Exploring Kenyan Coffee: What Is A “Coffee Marketing Agent”? - Perfect Daily Grind

Kenya and “the decline of the world’s greatest coffee” – Christopher Feran

Reforms hope to change Kenyan coffee for the better - Coffee Intelligence

Farmers earn Sh17 billion as coffee reforms bear fruit (standardmedia.co.ke)