Kenya Karagoto AA

The Story Behind the Coffee

The Karagoto Factory is made up of smallholders with an average farm size of half a hectare. It has over 1,700 members supplying cherry. Karagoto is located in the Karatina region in Nyeri County, between the elegant Mount Kenya and the Aberdare range.

Harvesting is carried out by careful hand selection when the coffee cherries are perfectly ripe and is delivered same-day to the Karagoto wet mill. Karagoto is run by a factory manager who oversees all activities within the factory. Together with other staff members they carry out duties such as weighing coffee, selection, and grading of coffee, paying farmers, and addressing farmers’ issues.

In addition to coffee, common crops grown here are banana, maize, Grevillea, and macadamia trees, all of which are intercropped. Farms in this region are surrounded by forests of native trees where wild animals such as elephants and buffalos live. Local coffee producers use fences strategically along their farm perimeters to protect their crops and minimize contact with potentially dangerous fauna. The Kenyan government has prohibited logging and hunting in the area and producers are very respectful of these rules.