History of coffee in Kenya
 

Ethiopia is the ancestral home of cultivated Arabica coffee with wild Coffea arabica L, being the parental shrub growing naturally in the moist forest. With continuous active selection and breeding activities, many varieties like Batian and Ruiru II in Kenya have emerged with improved disease and pest tolerance coupled with high yields potential.

In Kenya, coffee was first planted in 1893 at Bura in Taita hills thereafter it was grown in Kibwezi in 1900 followed by Kiambu in 1904, since then coffee growing was expanded to several areas of Central Kenya, Meru, Kisii, Machakos, Mount Elgon and Rift Valley.

https://www.newkpcuplc.go.ke/about-coffee#:~:text=In%20Kenya%2C%20coffee%20was%20first,Mount%20Elgon%20and%20Rift%20Valley.

Kitchin of Smith Mackanzie was the first man to grow Coffee to grow in Kenya,

Arnold Butler McDonell, the founder of both the Kenyan tea industry and Limuru School. in 1910 bought 350 acres at Limuru, where he built a house and started a farm, which he called Kiambethu. Because of the altitude (7,200 feet) he failed with corn, flax and coffee.  

Krangaita Kenya Coffee  
 

My Dad, Russell Wollen, arrived in Kenya in 1922 as a fee paying apprentice coffee planter. By 1935, he had founded the Kenya Planters Cooperative Union and been elected Chairman of the Kenya Coffee Board. Later, his work on the Coffee Marketing Board resulted the the words "Kenya Coffee" becoming internationally synonymous with the finest quality brew.
His biography, Karangaita Kenya Coffee, is soon to be published, and I hope some members of this group may be interested in reading my work.

Here is a 1924 photo from the family album - coffee on its way from the farm to be shipped to England for sale. A rather shadowy figure on the far right is probably my Dad.

(Extracted from book called “Krangaita Kenya Coffee” by Jane Walker)

Book on the history of Commercial Coffee Growing in Kenya, printed by Hill Siffken and Co…
 

Introduction.

Coffee Arabica was first introduced into the Highlands of Kenya in 1896, but it was not until 1900 when a real start was made to establish a plantation. The then newly founded St. Austin’s Mission near Nairobi introduced coffee from Bura Mission, thus laying the foundation of the industry, as the majority of the coffee plantations have been established from seed first grown there.
 

Coffee growing in Kenya has long since passed the experimental stage, and the knowledge gained in the various districts will undoubtedly be of great help to the newcomer.

One of the first questions (apart from the amount of capital required) which must concern prospective settlers who wish to take up coffee planting is, what are the indications of the price of coffee remaining firm ?

Will production glut the world’s consumption? In the first place, Kenya is one of the largest British coffee growing countries, and to-day Empire consumption is far in excess of Empire production.
 

In the second place, Brazil produces about 66 per cent, of the total output of coffee, and as the country is almost entirely dependent on this industry, the exports are controlled by the Government so as not to overstock the world’s market.
 

So far as can be seen, the prospect of growing coffee in the Empire is sound, especially in Kenya, as this high grade mild coffee is always in demand. It might be mentioned that if world production falls below the world’s demands, it would undoubtedly affect the future of coffee as a beverage amongst all classes, owing to the fact that it would become too expensive an article for a certain class who could not afford to pay any higher price than it is sold at to-day. This class would eventually lose the “ coffee drinking habit.”
 

The next important question is, how much capital will be required? The chief factors in determining the amount are :—

1. the standard of living.
2. the experience and capability of the individual;

also the amount would vary according to the number of acres purchased, and the terms of payment.
 

The prospective coffee grower with a limited capital must be prepared to face hardships, owing to the length of time it is necessary to wait for returns. The “ maiden ” or “ fly ” crop is obtained about the second or third year after the saplings have been planted out into the field. The yield may not be more than half a cwt. clean coffee per acre, and after the cost of production has been deducted there is nothing left in the way of profit.
 

The planter must not look for any return, worth speaking of, until the third or fourth year, when the yield may be 3 cwts. In some cases the yield is as much as 4 to 4.5 cwts. clean coffee, but this is exceptional. The average yield of coffee in full bearing should be from 6 to 7 cwt. per acre. Coffee growing under favourable conditions is a very pleasant occupation, but it is not always smooth going.

The planter has diseases and pests to cope with, periodical droughts, and labour troubles. If such difficulties did not occur, coffee planting might not be so interesting! There are problems in every branch of agriculture, and coffee culture in Kenya has its full share. The fact remains, however, that Kenya coffee commands a high price on the London market, and as the yield over a period of years is satisfactory, the planter gets a good remuneration on his investment.
 

Throughout the Colony there are plenty of social amenities to break the monotony of coffee growing. Social, tennis, golf, and in some districts polo clubs are in close proximity to land which is available for coffee planting.
 

The road system throughout the Colony is very good, considering that the Colony is so young.

STATISTICAL INFORMATION

A further increase of 5,612 acres is recorded as planted on the 31st July, 1927 ; the total area now stands at 74,562 acres, and is distributed in the under-mentioned provinces as follows :—

Nyanza Province

Ukamba Province

Kerio Province

Coast Province

Extra Provincial Districts.

Kisumu-Londiani

Laikipia

Nakuru

Nyeri

Trans Nzoia ..

Uasin Gishu ..

There are 749 coffee planters, representing 39 per cent, of all the occupiers in the Colony.

Kikuyu Province.