The Marumi cooperative, affiliated with Mugaga Farmers’ Cooperative Society, lies near Gachocho town on the East slope of the Aberdare mountains, north of Nairobi. Smallholders in this area grow mostly the lauded SL28 variety, which thrives in the region’s red volcanic soils, benefiting from an annual rainfall of 1,100 mm at an altitude of 1,650 meters above sea level. The fully washed cherries are sundried on raised beds. During processing, fermentation breaks down sugars, followed by careful cleaning, soaking, and drying on raised tables. Pre-financing options support farmers’ needs during growing and harvest, while paying the producers some of the highest returns for their coffee incentivizes quality. The factory collaborates with Coffee Management Services (CMS) to enhance sustainable practices, aiming to elevate Kenya’s coffee quality standards.
History of Coffee in Kenya
It seems likely that coffee grew wild within the region that would become Kenya, buried deep inside impenetrable forests, or perhaps hiding in plain site; but it wasn’t until 1895 that missionaries both protestant and catholic attempted to grow coffee for commercial purposes. The 100 seeds from Reunion Island that would serve as progenitors to the Kenyan coffee industry arrived on a train, carried by priests belonging to an order known as “Holy Ghost Fathers.” On August 12th, 1899, they arrived at the spot that would quickly become the country’s capital city. One of the early protestant medical missionaries was Dr. Henry Scott. After his death in 1911, a new hospital complex was named after Dr. Scott and when the department of agriculture took over the complex in 1923 they kept the name: Scott Agricultural Laboratories, or “Scott Labs.” This is the origin of the “SL” in SL28 and other coffee varieties selected at the lab.
