Nyeri Hill

Nyeri Hill

Cooperative

This washing station is a privately owned coffee estate located in Nyeri County, with a large farm spread across the red volcanic soils of the Mt. Kenya highlands at an impressive altitude of 1,700 meters. The estate is owned by the Catholic Church and is one of the oldest coffee farms in Kenya. All the coffee is fully washed. Ripe coffee cherries are picked and delivered to the factory, where they are pulped and dry fermented for 24 hours. Afterward, the coffee is washed with clean river water and dried on raised beds. The predominant coffee varieties grown are SL28, SL34, and Ruiru 11. The coffee is intercropped with macadamia trees, which provide shade cover. The coffee estate has 380 permanent employees and employs 100 to 150 casual workers from the neighboring community during the peak harvest season. Nyeri Hill is regarded as the largest employer in Nyeri County. It is important to note that the revenues generated by the farm are reinvested in the church’s missionary work within Nyeri County, including funding many schools and hospitals.