For your cup of joe

Coffee.
In Canada we would enjoy a cup of it everyday. It's cheap, delicious and makes the day better.
But, have you ever wondered where your cup of coffee starts?
In Canada I came to find that my favourite place of origin for coffee was in East Africa, so coming to Kenya I was determined I was going to find my way to find a coffee farm to visit.
With a few connections, I was given the opportunity to visit a small farm in Kirinyaga (near Mt. Kenya).

So, while you sip your joe, I'll tell you a bit of the story of coffee.

The farm I visited is an average farmer with 1.5 acres of produce on fairly steep slopes with a constant running stream of fresh water coming down from Mt. Kenya.
Coffee production, as well as most farmers in the area, is their main source of income. On a good year they will harvest 2,000kgs of beans.
Now in December they are just completing their main harvest of coffee. The rainfalls were not so good (coffee needs 152 - 230cm of rainfall) so this harvest was not very high.
The farmer has gone through the field twice this harvest, and will go through one more time to harvest the remaining of the ripe beans (they do not all ripen at the same time).

The red beans are perfect for harvesting. Under ripe beans are green, and over ripe turn black.

Here a a branch still has many beans for harvest.

On this branch you can see the buds for the next harvest. If the rains are good there will be a good harvest.

 Kevin and Hanniel (in black, the coffee farmer) walking through the farm

The old trees and branches are cut off for new growth. Rarely will the plant a new tree because it takes 3 years to produce fruit compared to 1 year for regrowth.

At the bottom, near the river it is too cold for the coffee production so crops like maize and kale are grown.

There is few pests/diseases that are in issue for coffee, but fertilizer can be a determining factor for production along with rainfall. The processor that buys the beans from the farmer will supply (with a fee) the farmer with fertilizer. The amount supplied will depend on the farmers harvest. The farmer rarely has extra cash to purchase more fertilizer if its needed so they depend on the processor. 

Once the coffee has been harvested, the farmer brings it to the processor to be sold. 

Arriving at the processor, the farmer will sort through the beans and pick out any under and over ripe beans as well as trash. 

 Those beans that were sorted out are brought back to the farm and dried to be sold later to the processor. Per kg the farmer gets more for the dried beans, but they are too light to make it more profitable. So the red beans are best for profit. 

Once sorted, the beans are weighed and the farmer is paid 100ksh (about $1) per kg. On a good year the farmer will make 200,000ksh (2,000kgs produce).

For the farmer the price is too low for the amount of work that goes into production. But, the farmers are price takers. The amount they make is not enough so they struggle to make ends meet. 

Once weighed, the beans are dumped into a hopper. All the farmers beans are thrown together. The farmer is not paid based on grade and quality. They all receive the same price.

From the hopper the beans go through a machine that de-pulps and grades them. 

They are transported by water, with the grading done by the weight of the bean. 

 The grade A beans flow into the central chamber, and the grade B beans flow into the left chamber. 

As you can see, there are many more grade A beans than B.

From the initial chamber, the beans are transported (with water) into another chamber where they ferment over night in order to remove the film around the bean.

From there the beans are transported again, with water, onto the drying tables. 

Here they will stay for up to months being turned daily to dry to 11%

The pulp of the beans are transported, by water, to an area where farmers will come collect for fertilizer.

Once the beans are dry, they are sold to a middle man. For Decembers harvest this will be in April and the time that the farmers will finally be paid.
The middle man will then sell to an exporter. If I do the math, the beans are sold about 6 times before being consumed. Which means a cup of cheap coffee means the one at the bottom of the supply chain is not making much of a profit, if any. 

While I was talking to Hanniel about coffee production we were drinking tea. I made a comment and joke about it and he said for them to buy coffee it is much to expensive to afford. 

So, while you drink your coffee, may you think of Hanniels family working hard for your morning pick-me-up.