Our good friends over at Long Miles Coffee Project have a few new things in the works and one of them is in Kenya. This is the second year of Long Miles Kenya Project.
In partnership with Haron Wachira from Akili Holdings Ltd., we have refurbished Njowa Coffee Factory in Kirinyaga County, Mount Kenya (just east of Nyeri County). In the past, the coffee factory existed to serve the Wachira family and a few of their neighbors who grow coffee in the region. While the Akili Group is not solely focused on coffee, we share the same vision of working with small-scale farmers to improve their production, access to markets, and the price paid for what they produce. Long Miles Kenya will be a long-term partnership with the Wachira family, and the communities of coffee growers in the Mount Kenya region.
We’ve sown the seeds for our Coffee Scout program. This past year we had one full time employee offering year-round agronomical support to the producers who have agreed to let us producer their coffee for them. Last year, our first in operation, we worked with 25 farming families. This year we exceeded 300 families who delivered their cherry to our station. These cherries were divided into three different traceabilities, designated geographically by river boundaries: Karinga, Nyamindi, and Kamweti. These distinct lots were processed separately at Njowa station.
This is unique to our station as nearly everywhere else in Kenya, the coffee is simply bulked together and sold under the station name.
In addition to producing coffee, Long Miles and Akili are working together in Kenya on a number of reforestation initiatives. This is important as it connects coffee and the producers we are working with, to Akili’s larger work: planting fruit and nut bearing trees, providing shade, protecting soil, and capturing carbon - all in ways that brings money into the communities producing coffee.
Check out more info here.
*Our coffee is roasted every Wednesday. Orders that are placed on Wednesday will be roasted and shipped the following week. 5lb bags are available only as whole bean in order to keep our production process moving efficiently. Please reach out to hello@fikacoffee.com if you have further questions.
--
Origins: Kenya, Kirinyaga County - Mount Kenya
Producer: Long Miles Njowa
Variety: SL, Ruiru & Batian
Altitude: 1795 MASL
Processing: Washed
