Despite the ‘thorns’, I never gave up on coffee

Charles Mutwiri, was only 17 when his father gifted him 150 coffee bushes. Tree by tree, he has expanded his farm and now he owns an impressive 30,000 coffee bushes in Nthimbiri, Central Imenti. In addition, he has his own factory where he mills his produce which range from 150,000 kilos to 200,000 kilos a season.

He sells it to Meru Central Millers. Though now established, his journey has been dotted with thorns here and there.

It all started in 1976. His father wanted him to be a teacher but he was more interested in coffee farming. He had seen how his elder brother had made it and was interested in the same.

.

Keep Reading

• Farmers earn Sh1b from coffee
• Bungoma women smell the sweet aroma of coffee dollars
• Reviving Nairobi Coffee Exchange: Does The current Surge in Auction Volumes Signal Sector Recovery?
• CS Chelugui Challenge Coffee farmers to unite, Support County Coffee mill

Uprooted it in frustration

“My father was not happy with my decision and to discourage me, gave me a rough area and 200 more trees. From the 350 trees I produced up to 6, 000kgs and sold that at Sh3 a kilo,” he recalls.

But sometime in the 80s Mutwiri got a rude shock when global coffee prices plummeted. Prices kept dropping making coffee farming a challenge. But his perseverance paid off.

“My father and my brother and almost everyone around had uprooted their coffee and replaced it with maize and bananas. I soldiered on despite the drop in earnings. I worked hard and with my small earnings I was able to lease small parcels of land and dedicated them to coffee.” With time, things got better and he was able to lease larger parcels and plant 1, 000 trees. Inputs were given free by the government and he was able to harvest 12,000 kilos in the early 90s.

He hit ‘jackpot’ when the Government announced a kilo will be bought at Sh18, to the shock of everyone in the area. He was among the few who had tonnes of the crop.

“I had thought we would be given Sh3 as usual. I jumped with joy ...!”

He earned Sh200,000, which was a lot back then.

“I bought a tractor and other farm inputs. My acreage had increased and I had to mechanise the farm,” he says.

“ I also bought land in Nthimbiri, Thuura, Kirimene, Ntakira, Kaunjiraa, Kaingínyo and other areas to plant more bushes,” he recalls.

Now Mutwiri produces up to 200,000 kilogrammes of the SL28 and SL34 coffee varieties which he sells at between Sh40 and Sh50 to the Meru Central mill.

But though the storm is over, he still faces small challenges.

Going organic

“Production costs have been a major challenge because the fertilisers and pesticides in the market are pricy. I have overcome that challenge by going organic. I do not apply any chemicals,” he says.

“I spray the leaves with foliar to improve the potassium, protein and nitrogen by my trees, which has really improved harvests and quality of the berries,” says Mutwiri, a married father of four.

Even then the cost of foliar is prohibitive as a 10 litre jerrican of foliar costs Sh10,000, enough for only 200 trees.

“To cover over 30,000 trees I need litres of foliar,” Mutwiri says.

Instead of fertiliser he uses manure and for that, he has to make long trips to Isiolo County to buy goat and animal manure. Though he has many trees, weeds control is manageable.

“I deal with it by applying manure which promotes presence of beneficial soil organisms. These organisms feed on weed seeds thus control their spread,” he says.

He buys a seven-tonne lorry-load of manure at Sh45,000, enough for 700 trees. He does all this faithfully so as not to compromise on quality.

Adding value

“Though this is expensive it is the only way out because I want to have optimum conditions for increased production. Many farmers suffer heavy losses because of crop failure. I would rather produce few but high quality berries.”

As part of his expansion plans, Mutwiri built a Sh2 million factory next to one of his farm and residence.

“I started my own factory because I wanted to be independent, free of the bureaucracy in the societies. I sell my berries to the Meru miller.”

At his factory Mutwiri works on the raw berries and sells the finished product. Here, the cherry is extracted from the bean and dried. The berries are fermented and washed to remove the pulp from the beans. After fermentation Mutwiri thoroughly washes the coffee in the tiled tanks, before drying them and selling to the miller.

.

Keep Reading

• Farmers in Rift Valley embrace Coffee farming
• Farmers in Rift Valley embrace Coffee farming
• Farmers in Rift Valley embrace Coffee farming