At the end of October 2024, I had a conversation with Gertrude Alworah and John Okoth Omondi about regenerative and organic coffee farming, the use of coffee by-products and waste, the role of women, and the cooperation between scientists and farmers in the Kenyan coffee sector. The following text summarizes the key aspects of this conversation.
Gertrude Alworah is a plant pathologist and works as a senior research scientist at KALRO (Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization). She is also a member of the Kenya chapter of IWCA (International Women's Coffee Alliance). It is important to her to improve the situation of women in coffee growing families. John Okoth Omondi is a systems agronomist at IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture) with a focus on soil fertility and plant nutrition. Like Gertrude, John is convinced that a number of changes need to be made in the Kenyan coffee farming to make it sustainable and competitive again.
One thing quickly became clear at the very beginning of the conversation: there is a fundamental difference in gender roles among Kenyan coffee growers (as it is in many parts of the world): “Up to 90% of the work in coffee growing families, including food supply, milking the cows, caring for children, working in the fields etc. is done by women; and the money from coffee and other sales not only goes to the men, it also stays with them in most cases. The dependence of women on their husbands, and as a consequence their limitations in making decisions, is simply too great”, says Gertrude.
While there are small and medium-sized coffee farms run by women, Gertrude and her colleagues realized that adoption of new farming methods and technologies, for example, was the lowest among farms run by women. “Unfortunately,” she says, “we are promoting this situation through the way our training is structured: it takes place during the day, at the very time when women are most involved in other family tasks. This is not the case for men, which is why they make up the majority of training and course participants.”
That is why Gertrude has worked with a group of women in Embu, Kirinyaga, Bungoma, Meru, Kericho, Nandi and TransNzoia counties on a voluntary basis, sharing her knowledge and skills with them at times that are more convenient for them. “It's very simple: in order to keep up, women need training in improved farming methods, composting of organic waste such as coffee pulp (especially where the cherries are de-pulped at home), ways to improve soil, and much more.”
Through this voluntary work, other organizations became aware of Gertrude, and she is now also working as a consultant. In a team, she has been engaged by Solidaridad East and Central Africa to support the Traceable Organic Coffee of the Kenyan project TRACE Kenya. Gertrude played a key role in transitioning the farmers from conventional to organic farming by providing training and technical support in crop protection and production.
Gertrude appreciates the model of the project, indicating that fact of having a buyer for the certified organic coffee from the outset was crucial for the successful conversion to organic farming. Without the fact of a guaranteed purchase of the coffee, a circumstance that may be described as extraordinary, the acceptance of the conversion would certainly have been significantly lower due to the smaller harvests that come along with it, particularly in the first few years. “Farmers”, says Gertrude, “need a guarantee that their investment in time, money and labor will pay off.” In addition, the farmers were trained in carbon farming and educated about the carbon market.
“Switching from conventional to organic coffee farming is difficult”, says John, ”because no farmer wants to risk financial losses; they have high upfront costs, but cannot sell their coffee as organic in the first three years of the conversion. Also, the certification costs are too high for many. Therefore, for those who do not want to convert immediately, we try to find the balance between the two forms of cultivation: gradual soil improvement, more biodiversity, more shade trees, etc., while reducing the use of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides.”
Key issues in coffee growing
This brings us to some key issues in coffee growing in Kenya: the lack of shade trees and ground cover over many decades has largely depleted the soil, leaving the top soils without humus in some places; pesticides are found in the wastewater of the mills and concentrate in the associated ponds, only to seep into the groundwater or in local rivers; fertilizers have become extremely expensive primarily due to global economic and political instabilities. Soil and water conservation, nutrient management and adoption of Climate Smart Agricultural practices are therefore a top priority for John and Gertrude.
Utilization of microorganisms, worms and coffee pulp
One of the ways to improve soil is to add compost and humus. What could be more obvious than to converting the organic waste from coffee production, such as the pulp? Two of the methods available for this, which Gertrude currently prefers to use, are microbial composting and vermicomposting, both of which produce a good, rich soil amendment. While composting of the coffee pulp is done with the addition of Effective Microorganism (EM), vermicomposting, where other organic materials such as the fine cuttings from pruning the coffee trees are added to the coffee pulp, is carried out by millions of Eisenia fetida, a species of red worms which is excellently suited for this purpose. Any surplus of worms that occurs over time or after the end of a vermicomposting process is sold or utilized by the coffee farmers as feed for chickens. The compost and humus are usually applied on a farmers' own land.
There is very limited utilization of coffee pulp and parchments at the farm level, But Gertrude and John are exploring and researching on methods of converting the massive waste into soil amendments
Organic inputs
Not every farmer has the ability or desire to take on the extra effort of composting or vermicomposting, and prefers to use commercially available products instead. “That's why”, says Gertrude, ”we have trained a group of young people to venture into the production of manure using locally available organic matter and coffee waste and sell it to farmers. We also encouraged them to cut down the weeds and add them to the composting material.”
For farmers who prefer a spray for weed control, Gertrude developed a mixture of salt, vinegar and liquid soap. This mixture was very effective in controlling weeds at early growth stage. “The problem is the upscaling of methods such as weed cutting or weed spraying, i.e. their large-scale application. We are still looking for ways and means to do this. Farmers of all sizes need access to such organic inputs. We are doing as much as we can, but that is certainly not enough”, says Gertrude.
Water conservation
“We have not yet looked closely at the utilization of the wastewater or mucilage from processing. It sits on the mills in large ponds and rots slowly. We still have to do something about that”, says Gertrude.
Natural pest management
Another focus of Gertrude's work is insect pest management. In order to keep the use of pesticides as low as possible, attempts are made to work with natural enemies of pests. A first successful example is the containment of coffee green scales and mealybugs through the so-called “banding” of tree trunks and branches. Banding involves the application of recommended pesticides at the base of the tree trunks; this deters the ants, which like to feast on the sugary honeydew, the excrement of the sap sucking scales. Scales and mealybugs thus lose their highly efficient protectors against their predators like ladybugs or parasitic wasps and fall victim to them. One insect's sorrow is another insect's joy... And don't forget: in the end, the human coffee farmer is happy too!
Let's work together
Gertrude and John both emphasize that whatever type of innovation is introduced, the traditional knowledge of farmers should be incorporated into planned innovations. “There's a lot of untapped indigenous knowledge. Farmers observe and learn things from their parents and grandparents that none of us pay attention to or would even think of, such as that coffee that grows under a certain tree does not bear fruit, or that coffee that grows under another tree is not attacked by insects”, they both point out. “That's why it's not only important for us to pass on OUR knowledge to the farmers, but above all that we listen to THEM and learn from them. And if we then combine their knowledge and observations with our science and R&D, we may be able to develop methods that can be used efficiently. Only if we try to solve problems together and in a participatory way can we be successful in the long term”, adds John.
Food security
One problem that has not yet been mentioned is the low, unstable economic security of coffee farmers, including in Kenya. As many of these farmers have coffee cultivation as a sole source of income, their income depends for better or worse on the quantity and quality of the harvest, the world market price and the willingness of buyers to pay. Gertrude: “Coffee cultivation is a very uncertain undertaking. Food security is always at risk, even if there is a “fat year” here and there; the next lean year is certainly just around the corner. We must therefore integrate the cultivation of other cash crops or food for our own consumption into coffee cultivation, or help to develop other sources of income. Sustainability must not only be seen as an ecological issue, but also as an economic one.”
“What we need,” John interjects, “are more public-private partnerships. The public sector is limited to things like research, funding etc., but we need the private sector to work on the ground. The public sector establishes the necessary framework conditions and the private sector, ideally in close collaboration with the farmers, ensures that they are implemented. This collaboration is essential. Every stakeholder needs to be on board; otherwise, the coffee farmers will continue to struggle.”
