Kabingara

The Kabingara washing station is owned and run by the Karithathi Farmers’ Cooperative Society and is located near the town of Kamwana in Kirinyaga County. Kirinyaga lies in central Kenya, south of Mount Kenya, and along with the neighbouring Nyeri and Embu, it is the home of Kenya’s most complex coffees. Over 70% of the region’s coffee is produced by smallholders working on a few hectares, growing only around 250 coffee shrubs each. Around 800 smallholders submit their crops to Kabingara during the harvest season, where the cherries are immediately sorted and separated according to various rules. The cherries are de-pulped mechanically the day before being fermented. Fermentation is followed by washing the cherries, after which they are dried in the sun for 9 to 13 days.