On an early and sunny morning we headed to Gatundu, Kiambu County, just north of Nairobi, to meet Hellen and Daniel, who together with their son, Alfons, run the Ciumenene Estate. A beautiful little paradise set on an elevation of 1,830 meters above sea level. The farm is three hectares large, with 1.7 hectares used for coffee cultivation; a family tradition for Daniel. With a big smile on their faces and a heart full of passion they showed us how they graft Ruiru 11 onto the old, durable SL28 and SL34 stumps, which are all different coffee varieties.
Ciumenene, despite its size, has embraced sustainable methods with great success; economically, environmentally and socially. They emphasized conservation of the farming environment, such as conservation of biodiversity, soil, water, and natural forest habitat. In addition they have seen the good results from their learnings, and the support of our mutual partner program, the Volcafe Way. Most importantly, the combination of Daniel and Hellen makes for a great working team! Hellen had been for years a part of the organization “GROOTS Kenya”, where she fights as the so-called champion working against violence against girls.
“By helping my community I help myself”, she whispers to me with a full-hearted smile. From GROOTS she has also learned techniques such as the system they have put in place where the gas from the farm’s cow dung feeds a small biogas plant in their kitchen. She also has a vegetable garden with tomatoes, avocados, potatoes among other delicious veggies. While Hellen is doing this, Alfons is looking after his own tilapia fish farm which does very well too.
However they, as many other coffee producers too, have faced climate related challenges, disrupting the “normal” weather patterns. Unpredictable weather impacts the flowering and fruit setting process negatively; affecting the quality of the resultant beans and also bringing disease and pest infestation.
While there, I was lucky to see and hear from Daniel the positive impact the solar-powered irrigation system had on their last coffee crop. With solar power, they pump water from their own aquifer at the bottom of the farm to the top where the water feeds into the hillside of the coffee plantation. Without the aid of this new system, the worsening climate conditions (like the lack of rainfall) would have negatively affected last year’s production. This is a project conducted recently together with the ViFOUNDATION.
All in all, nothing compares to the true gratitude expressed from the eyes of Daniel; to realize that Ciumenene´s name has reached the quality standards they have worked so hard for since his grandfather’s time. We are proud to work side by side with Daniel and his community, in delivering our product to appreciative coffee consumers in Switzerland.
In the true spirit of Ciumenene, “may the harvest be great” for the Kamiri Njoroge family – and may we not say goodbye to our dear partners, nor to the Kenyan people, but; “Kwaheri ya kuonana!” – until we see us again!
