Kenya grows Arabica coffee at an altitude of 1400m – 2000m above sea level. Most of the coffee is grown on the volcanic slopes around snow peaked Mt. Kenya; Africa’s second highest mountain.

Key regions at the origin of Kenya coffee include:Mt. Kenya West, Kiambu, Kirinyaga, Muranga, Nyeri, Ruiru, Thika.

This region lies on both the foothills of Mt. Kenya and the Aberdare ranges. It hosts a pristine indigenous forest, teeming with wildlife that frolics in this unique micro climate.

Total annual production has been fluctuating widely due to changing climate as well as socio-economic factors.

There are two distinct flowerings each year, shortly after the beginning of rains in March/April or September/October. In most regions, the main crop ripens from October to December. The early crop starts in May /July.

Coffee was first planted in Kenya at Bura in Taita Hills in 1893 and thereafter, grown at Kibwezi, under irrigation in 1900, and at Kikuyu near Nairobi in 1904.

At that time, there was no statutory control, in terms of crop husbandry, production, processing, grading and marketing. The marketing of coffee was handled by individuals and through rudimentary institutions between 1900 and 1933. In the 1930's, following the Devonshire White Paper Report of 1923, the Colonial Government allowed controlled planting of coffee outside the European settled areas in Kisii and Meru in particular.

On request by coffee farmers, the colonial government enacted the Coffee Industry Ordinance in 1932, and established Coffee Board  in January 1933. The Ordinance was re-enacted in 1934 and amended severally later. The role of Coffee Board was regulatory and promotion, that is, licensing, inspectorate and promotion.

The Kenya Coffee Auctions, as a mode of selling Kenyan coffee, was established in 1934 and the liquoring department of Coffee Board was created in 1935 to enhance the grading and selling of coffee. The first coffee auction was inaugurated in September 1935 when the first coffee was auctioned.

The Coffee Marketing Board  was established under the Coffee Marketing Ordinance No. 6 of 1946 and became fully operational on 1 July 1947 to cater for the coffee marketing activities with its functions being central warehousing, sale of coffee at central auction, liquoring and financing.

Ordinance No 26 of 1960 consolidated the Coffee Industry Ordinance and the Coffee Marketing Ordinance into the Coffee Ordinance Cap 333. The Coffee Ordinance, Cap 333, commenced on 5 July 1960 when Coffee Board of Kenya (CBK) and CMB were established under the same law.

Act 13 of 1971 abolished the CMB and consolidated the function of coffee marketing with the regulatory functions of the CBK. Since then, CBK has been controlling the industry up to July 2001 when a new Coffee Act was enacted to amend Cap 333 that specified new roles for CBK as an industry regulator.

The specific roles include: Generally, to formulate policies to enhance coffee production, processing and marketing, in the country and globally and specifically to register and license coffee operations in the country, including coffee marketing agents, auctioneers and management agents.

Out of the licenced pulping stations, 1,021 belong to the cooperative societies 2,229 to small estates 391 to medium estates and 380 are under large estates.

Coffee earned about KShs.107 billion, which is about 10% of agriculture’s share of GDP between 1987/88 and 1997/98, that has made great impact in the economy during that period and became a foundation of many other economic development activities in coffee growing areas of the country.

Currently, it is estimated that 170,000 ha are under coffee of which 75.5% is in the co operative sub sector and 24.5% in the estates sub-sector. The highest production was achieved in 1987/88 when 128,926 metric tonnes of clean coffee were produced with co operatives producing 65.5% and estates 34.5% respectively.

Coffee production has been declining from an all time high of about 130,000 metric tons in 1987/88 to low time low of about 48,000 metric tons in 2004/2005. This is a statistical evidence that the process of coffee growing, processing and marketing is on the decline and this calls for novel creative and imaginative strategies to change the situation for the better.

Currently, there are two coffee marketing systems in Kenya: the central Auction system and the direct sale. The time tested central auction system, commonly referred to as Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE), is a market where coffee is bought by the licensed coffee dealers through competitive bidding. Coffee auctions are conducted every Tuesday of the week. The Nairobi Coffee Exchange is under the management of the Kenya Coffee Producers and Traders Association (KCPTA).

Second Window
The Direct Sales, commonly referred to as the “Second Window” requires that a Marketing Agent directly negotiates with a buyer outside the country and a sales contract is duly signed and registered with the Board. The Board registers the contracts after carrying out an inspection and analyzing the coffee for quality and value as per the contract.

Marketing Agents
There are two categories of Marketing Agents namely: - Commercial Marketing Agents who offer their services purely for commercial purposes and the Grower Marketers who are growers licensed to marketing their own coffee.

The specially tendered Kenyan coffee beans are traditionally exported as green beans for final processing at various market destinations. The high quality Kenyan coffee is used for blending coffee from other destinations.

The export of Kenya coffee as a commodity does not accord it distinctiveness in the market. The Branding initiative is envisaged to facilitate the much needed distinctiveness in the market. The Board took cognizance of that fact and initiated the branding of Kenya’s Coffee. It is anticipated that the distinctiveness of Kenya coffee will trigger demand and consequently impact positively on returns of coffee growers.

The national logo has been developed and shall be applied to coffees which meet the minimum quality as per the Kenya bureau of Standards (KEBS). Application guidelines have been developed and would be shared with potential users of the logo. A guideline standard manual has also been developed with of minimum quality standards as per Kenya Bureau of Standards. For more info go to coffeeboardkenya.org