Support for 2,600 coffee farmers in Kenya

The Thiririka Farmer Cooperative Society (Thiririka FCS) has great potential for exceptional high quality coffee due to their geographical location and highly motivated farmers. However, they are not yet able to fully realize their potential and therefore generate less revenue for their coffees compared to other cooperatives in Kenya. This project aims to support the farmers to improve the quality of their coffee and thereby increase their income in the long run.

At a glance

• Project volume: € 75,000
• Implementation period: July 2019 - December 2022
• Region: Kenya, Kiambu County
• Cooperatives: Thiririka FCS: Factory Githembe, Kiganjo, and Ndundu
• Annual production: approximately 3,300 bags of 60 kg each.
• Geo-coordinates: -0.985218, 36.832097
• Beneficiaries: approx. 2,600 coffee farmers

How will this project be implemented?

The project began in July 2019. By the end of June 2021, thanks to your donation and the cooperation of the local Tropical Farm Management (TFM), which supported us on the ground, nearly all measures had been implemented: The school has been renovated, students and farmers have been provided with laptops, and three agricultural scientists have begun their work and will continue it over the coming months.

The project was divided into several sub-areas: For the technical aspects, three agricultural scientists were hired as early as August 2019 and equipped with motorcycles so they could assist the various farmers in the cooperative and at the three washing stations as efficiently as possible. Since then, the agricultural scientists have been advising the cooperative on fertilizers, productivity, and sustainability, and supporting them in the areas of logistics and documentation.

In the area of sustainability and certification, the cooperative was able to obtain certification for the Café Practices Standard in 2020 thanks to the support of Tropical Farm Management—a complex process, as Nicholas Kabare, manager of TFM’s Farmer Service Unit, explains: “We develop an internal control system. In it, we document how the cooperative carries out each individual operation. Managers and farmers are trained to implement the standards required for certification. We ensure that these standards are met. Then we bring in an independent auditor to inspect the cooperative so that it can subsequently be certified.” Once a cooperative is certified, it can command higher prices for its coffee, which in turn leads to higher wages.

In terms of infrastructure improvements, the managers of the washing stations were trained in improving the quality of their coffee. The Ndundu and Kiganjo stations were tiled, as were all ten fermentation tanks. Twenty drying stations were built for Ndundu, and as many as 30 for Kiganjo. This work has also been completed.

In terms of financing, TFM provided the Thiririka Cooperative with an advance of just under $40,000 to enable it to make investments for future operations. The cooperative itself contributed 20% of the project’s total budget. The remainder—€75,000—was raised through donations from Coffee Circle customers.

There have also been significant developments in the Cooperative Management System: TFM has installed an IT system in all the washing station offices and equipped the Thiririka Cooperative with three digital scales, four laptops, and three tablets. This modern IT system has enabled the cooperative to document and store data on individual members more transparently. Instead of recording each farmer’s delivery of red cherries in ledgers, this data can now be entered directly into computers. Farmers receive a text message confirming the quantity delivered.

The next most labor-intensive project involved the renovation of Kiganjo Elementary School. Here, floors were replaced in nine classrooms, 260 windows were installed, and metal doors were fitted in four classrooms. Walls were repaired, classrooms were rewired, and a computer lab was set up. A playground was also built, and a small coffee farm on the school grounds was rehabilitated. Students can learn about coffee cultivation here and, hopefully, in the near future, even grow, harvest, and profitably sell their own coffee.

Stephan Eicke: Nicholas, what does it mean when the conversion rate drops from 5.46 kg to 3.37 kg?
Nicholas Kabare: When farmers deliver coffee to the washing stations, it’s still in the form of cherries. Then it’s processed. The skin is removed. After that, it’s washed and dried. Then we have parchment coffee. This is delivered to a dry mill, where it is turned into green coffee. It is exported in this form. Coffee Circle, for example, receives it in this form. We specify the conversion rate from cherries to green coffee: If you deliver 3.37 kg of cherries, you end up with 1 kg of green coffee.

That means less is lost today than in 2015/2016.
Correct. We’ve achieved this through better agricultural methods in the fields. However, it also depends a bit on the weather, which is why the figures sometimes fluctuate. In 2018/2019, the conversion rate was 4.92 kg. There was a drought, which contributed to the rate being higher than the previous year. You can’t avoid such small fluctuations, but you can control and offset them through sustainable, improved farming methods.