BACKGROUND

Kamviu coffee factory is located in Embu county in the central part of Kenya. The nearly 1000 farmers delivering to the factory are members of the Gakundu Farmers’ Cooperative Society.
The county borders to Mount Kenya, one of the most well respected coffee growing regions in the world.
The main harvest for Kamviu is from October through February. Varieties grown are typical for Kenya; SL28 is 80%, Ruiru 11 is 15% and Batian of 5%.

LOCATION
Kamviu factory located at Kamviu sub-location near Kianjokoma market at Embu county .It has small-scale farmers who grow coffee and tea as the main cash crop; they also grow maize, beans, sweet potatoes and bananas. Some horticultural crops are also grown and have ready markets within Manyatta and Embu town.

SOILS AND CLIMATE
Kamviu Coffee Factory is dressed with red-volcanic soil that infuses it with all the mineral and organic goodness necessary for optimum production. It experiences an annual rainfall of 1,200mm at 1,750m above sea level. In addition it enjoys cool temperatures of 14-26°C.

PROCESSING
After picking, ripe cherry is brought to the factory by smallholder farmers before it undergoes processing to remove the skin and pulp –known as the wet processing method. The river Muriuriu is the primary water source for coffee processing at the factory.
The factory is using a disc pulper with four separate discs to remove the skin and fruit from the inner parchment layer that is protecting the green coffee bean.
After pulping, the coffee is fermented overnight to break down the sugars. Traveling through channels to the soaking tank, the coffee is carefully cleaned, soaked and spread out on the raised drying tables. Time on the drying tables depends on climate, ambient temperature and total production volume undergoing processing. Drying can take from 7 to 15 days in total.
Frequent turning and sorting will happen during the drying stage. Waste water is managed through the use of soaking pits. The water used for processing the cherry will spend time in the pits to insure that the nutrient rich water created during depulping will not be returned to the nearby water source without proper treatment. This additional step will cut down the risk of contamination, after adequate time for reabsorption is given , the water will be recirculated.
Currently Kamviu Factory is employing two soaking pits for this process. For many years coffee has been a constant revenue earner for most rural families in this area contributing to better levels of living standard and assisting in education of their children in the higher schools of learning.