Kianjogu AA

This washing station is owned by small scale farmers and is located in Nyeri county, tucked in between the highlands of Mt Kenya and Aberdare ridges at an impressive altitude of 1800m above the sea level. It is part of the Rutuma cooperative society together with 6 other washing stations. The number of farmers delivering coffee to this factory is about 800. The varieties grown in this area are SL28, and SL34.All the coffee is fully washed. This means; after picking the ripe cherries, it is delivered to the factory and it is pulped on the same day and dry fermented for 24 hours, thereafter it is washed with clean water and soaked once again on clean water before it meticulously dried under shade. This allows for an even drying process that minimizes the cracking of the parchment.The farmers practice mixed farming within their small farms (verage 0.25 ha), in there they will grow coffee as the primary cash earning crop and will also plant food items like maize/corn, beans, potatoes and vegetables for the family consumptionThe factory has 11 permanent employees and employs 20-30 casual workers from the neighboring community during the peak of the harvesting season to help in the processing of the parchment.