4.1 Description of the activities and the methodology of intervention: ARABIKA result areas
ARABIKA project has been structured into two main components of training and branding all under 5 Result areas.
R1: Acquisition of coffee tasting skills and recognition of the quality of green coffee by technicians, experts in the coffee supply chain and identified farmers Indicators
ARABIKA project under this result area has renovated 7 union/county government coffee laboratories for the evaluation of green coffee, roasting and tasting. The laboratories will be used to evaluate the organoleptic properties and characteristics of green coffee beans, carry out roasting tests to verify the organoleptic qualities of roasted coffee and carry out tasting tests.
The laboratories will also be structures suitable for on-the-job training of farmers and technicians, to improve the overall skills of the various stakeholders participating in the coffee supply chain. The ultimate goal is that the laboratories are taken over by the counties at the end of the project with the guarantee of financial coverage of costs and complete functionality and sustainability. Expert quality tasters will be trained and certified by the end of the project.
ACTIVITIES
In agreement with the Counties and/or Union of Cooperatives, the structures that will host the laboratories to be equipped will be identified. An Agreement will be signed between the Partners and the Project for the management of the laboratories during the project and following the hand over at the end of the project. The Partners will have to guarantee the remuneration of the staff employed during the project and after its completion; the Project will guarantee the coverage of costs for consumables and utilities in a decreasing manner, The laboratories will be equipped with the following equipment: furniture (tables, cabinets), sieves for selecting the grains, roaster, grinder, huller, weight scale, moist meter, consumables (glasses, cups, stirrers).
The laboratories will have the following tasks:
a) evaluate the organoleptic properties and characteristics of green coffee beans;
b) carry out roasting tests to verify the organoleptic qualities of roasted coffee
c) carry out tasting tests Evaluation forms will be used for the classification of coffee;
The coffees tested will be classified according to the standard in force in Kenya The tested coffees will receive a quality certificate with a coffee ranking that can be used on the local and international market. The laboratories will also be structures suitable for on-the-job training of farmers and technicians, to improve the overall skills of the various stakeholders participating in the coffee supply chain. The ultimate goal is that the laboratories are taken over by the counties at the end of the project with the guarantee of financial coverage of costs and complete functionality and sustainability.
Two expert tasters will be selected, with a process that will involve the main coffee tasting academies and schools. The selected tasters must guarantee the structuring of a training path (preparation of the curriculum) both in presence and remotely, for the local tasters who will be selected as part of the Project. The selection will involve the Dedan Kimathi University College of Technology (DeKUT) which has a Diploma in Coffee Technology and Quality Management and representatives of the Counties.
We will proceed to the selection of 2 technicians for the management of each tasting center / laboratory (tot. 14 technicians): the technicians will be selected by the Counties in collaboration with the Project, possibly selecting technical staff employed by the Counties (to ensure continuity and sustainability over time) and taking into account that the selected staff must have the skills for the management of the laboratories (agronomic with knowledge of biology, chemistry). They will also be selected:
- 21 coffee experts (3 per county), i.e. key players along the coffee supply chain (service providers, intermediaries, public and private service technicians, private entrepreneurs)
- 1 agronomist and 1 lead farmer for each of the 21 Associations / cooperatives selected as beneficiaries: they will have the task of disseminating the knowledge acquired within the Associations / Cooperatives (42 agronomists and lead farmers)
- 2 students and 1 professor (tot. 3) of Kimathi University College of Technology (KUCT).
The 80 selected candidates will participate in training courses organized by the tasters identified in the previous point in collaboration with DeKUT. This course is structured in two stages:
1.coffee technology and quality management;
2. Coffee technology and cupping.
This course is implemented in close collaboration with National Coffee Industry, (cbk) Coffee Board of Kenya, (crf) Coffee Research Foundation, (KTCA) Kenya Coffee Traders Association. Course participants have the title of Technical Professionals for the Coffee Industry.
This collaboration will include the creation of courses held by tasters at the University headquarters, with the ultimate goal of creating a link between Kenyan scientific institutions and Italian tasting academies. The selection will be made by a commission composed of 1 project representative, 1 county representative, 1 KUCT representative
The 80 selected technicians, experts and coffee growers will participate in a “Coffee cupping and professional coffee tasting” (ToT) course. The course will be held by the 2 selected tasters and will aim at obtaining the skills and certification of taster. The topics covered will be: green coffee, its classification, methods of processing and characteristics in the cup.
Specific training on the most typical coffee defects, the tasting of Brazilian samples, the use of a tasting card will be an element fundamental of the course to start talking about quality control. The following topics will be explored:
a) the purpose of the coffee tasting;
b) the sense organs involved in coffee tasting: eyes, nose, mouth;
c) the phases of coffee tasting: visual, olfactory, gustatory, tactile and aftertaste.
d) Acidity, bitterness, sweetness, body, flavor: the use of professional terminology.
e) What a coffee tasting card is and how to use it.
As specified, the courses will be held in a residential manner at DeKUT. At the end of the course, candidates will be examined and if they pass the exam, they will receive a Taster Certificate. In addition, there will be an exam to evaluate their ability to become trainers: those who pass the test will receive a Trainer / Taster certificate. A course manual will be produced that can be used by trained and graduated technicians (according to the ToT theory) to transmit knowledge in basic training courses that will be held at cooperatives. The graduates, in addition to acquiring the skills for tasting and recognizing the taste of coffee, will in turn become trainers and promote the consumption of quality coffee in Kenya. The expert tasters will collaborate with DeKUT to structure the curriculum for a Coffee cupping course that is part of the diploma in Coffee Technology and Quality Management. It is expected that the expert trainers will carry out, during the second and third year of the project, 1 mission / year with the aim of updating the skills of the 80 trained technicians, experts and coffee growers and verifying the trend of Coffee cupping courses at DeKUT.
80 TECHNICIANS, EXPERTS, TRAINED COFFEE MAKERS
4 TASTING COURSES REALIZED
1 CURRICULUM FOR COFFEE CUPPING COURSE AT STRUCTURED KUCT
The technicians, experts and coffee growers who have passed the exam and received the taster’s certification and received the trainer / taster certificate, will be involved (under the guidance of the 2 expert tasters) in the organization of training sessions at the 21 producer associations of coffee involved in the project. 210 coffee growers will be trained (ToT) (at least 1/3 women and 1/3 young). The training meetings will last for 2 days (with a maximum number of 5 participants per session - 42 meetings) and will aim to share basic information acquired during the taster course with the producers. The trainers will have an important role and responsibility towards the members of the cooperatives: the social recognition of the role of the trainers and the possibility for them to provide this service to other cooperatives and coffee growers not involved in the project will be important. The training sessions will aim to share basic knowledge for coffee tasting: green coffee, its classification, processing methods, typical coffee defects. This path, together with the improvement of the agronomic technical skills acquired by the coffee growers, should lead to a better level of the quality of the coffee produced and conferred by the producers to the associations as well as to a greater awareness acquired by the producers with respect to the role they play in the process of improving the quality of the coffee produced. There will also be tasting sessions with the aim of raising awareness among producers on the relationship between the quality of their product, processing in association and access to the Kenyan coffee market. The basic knowledge available to producers will be useful to sensitize them about the correct consumption of coffee with the aim of making them ambassadors of Kenyan coffee in the communities of origin, to try to help a conscious growth in the consumption of quality coffee in the country. The internal market can be an important outlet to support international markets, and can guarantee an important supplementary income for producers.
The 210 trained coffee growers will hold awareness and information meetings with producers who are members of the associations during the II and III years. Estimating the possibility that each coffee grower can transmit information and sensitize other 100 producers (4 meetings with 25 coffee growers / meeting: total 840 meetings), it will be possible to have a final number of coffee producers sensitized equal to about 21,000
210 COFFEE CULTORS TRAINED
30 TECHNICIANS, EXPERTS, COFFEE CULTORS TRAINERS
42 ORGANIZED TRAINING SESSIONS (84 days / man)
840 AWARENESS MEETINGS CARRIED OUT
Following the training for the 210 coffee growers, an assessment will be made of their degree of learning. On a quarterly basis, tasting tests will be carried out involving them, with the aim of selecting the best 40 who will be offered the opportunity to participate in an in-depth tasting course to obtain certification. The tasting course will last 7 days and each course will see the participation of 20 candidates; it will be organized in collaboration with and at DeKUT.
40 COFFEE MAKERS FORMED ON TASTING
1 TASTING COURSE REALIZED
R2 Adoption of techniques for "climate smart" production, for disease control and for the adequate composting of coffee residues, as well as the adoption of modern and eco-friendly post-harvest technologies
Across the seven counties, the project has identified and trained 63 Community based trainers and 149 young service providers who will enhance transfer of knowledge and skills through farmer fields schools and practical sessions in 21 cooperatives targeted by the project. Each farmer in the field school will be trained on sustainable coffee production and adoption of cost-effective and low-emission technologies.
Within the process of improving the coffee supply chain, training cycles for coffee growers on farm management are provided through theoretical training meetings.
ACTIVITIES
The goal of this activity is to form a core of Community Based Trainers (CBTs) capable of transferring the skills acquired to the coffee growers of the respective associations/cooperatives, making them responsible and primary actors in the growth path of the productive capacities of the associations / cooperatives. The training course has paid particular attention to the impact that climate change is having on local production processes and to the adoption of an Integrated Defense model for the control of pests and diseases in coffee. Using the Training of Trainers methodology, 3 trainers have been be selected from each of the 21 cooperatives (total of 63) to undergo a training seminar lasting 5 days. The ToT has also been attended by 7 technical officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, one per county. Participants have obtained a certificate in Agriculture and reside in the respective territory where the cooperatives are located. The 63 trainers are then conducting training for the 30,000 coffee growers. Each trainer is training and following around 500 farmers in groups of 50 members each. The clusters are composed of farmers from the same local area and have a specific farmer as the cluster leader. Cluster leaders support information dissemination to clusters, mobilization and feedback gathering.
The training has been organized and carried out by experts from the Coffee Research Institute (CRI) in collaboration with the project staff. Object of the course: knowledge and adoption of Good Agricultural Practices including in this the Climate Smart Practices. The training course focused on the following topics: Control of diseases, pests and weeds, Soil management (pruning, suckering, capping and cycle change), Nutrition (soil and leaf sampling and application of fertilizers), Management skills company (record keeping, costs) and facilitation skills.
As mentioned, the package of Good Agricultural Practices has been developed according to a Climate Smart Production model that aims to adapt to climate change and the adoption of environmentally friendly techniques that allow for the optimization of production factors. In addition, reference has been made to the introduction of Low Carbon coffee production technology: in practice, it is a question of adopting along the entire coffee supply chain practices and technologies that reduce the carbon foot-print of the sector:
a) Sustainable Coffee Production: The focus is on awareness and capabilities of low-emission technologies and practices in sustainable coffee production.
b) Adoption of cost-effective and low-emission technologies in the coffee processing industry: for example, a combination of technical and financial tools in order to encourage and facilitate investments in low-emission technologies and practices (e.g. use of renewable energy in the drying process).
The CRI has defined the curriculum of the training courses that has been held at the Institute itself. 3 sessions have been organized (with the participation of about 23 coffee growers and technicians for each course). The courses lasted 5 days each and at the end participants who have passed the final test have received a certificate of participation and the certification of trainers. A manual has been printed which has been used later by coffee growers and technicians trained for the cascade training activities in the field.
Using the Training of Trainers methodology, 150 young service providers in agriculture were selected and trained on pruning, pesticide treatment management, harvesting, product selection. The young people involved have a certificate in agriculture, issued by the Vocational Training Center and experience as an agricultural service provider. The aim of this activity was to train a group of technicians capable of providing specialized technical services to producers, especially the elderly. The training course covered the acquisition and improvement of technical skills, paying particular attention to the impact that climate change is having on the production processes in the field and the adoption of an Integrated Defense model for the control of plant diseases. In addition, basic knowledge was provided on the issues of cooperatives and associations. This component of the course is important as the final objective is to support young technicians to organize themselves into cooperatives at least 10 cooperatives / associations for the provision of structured services by the end of the project. The training was organized and carried out by experts from the Coffee Research Institute in collaboration with the project staff.
Following the structuring of the cooperatives, they will be equipped with a basic equipment kit i.e., pruning shears, manual shoulder sprayers, tool kits (rake, hoe, machete), buckets, wheelbarrow. The technician will provide these services and paid by coffee growers. This will ensure income Generating Opportunities for Young People and Coffee growers who require labor hired on their farms.
The project has identified 10 lead farmers in each of the 21 cooperatives (210 demonstration fields), where demonstration field have been set on each of the farm. For the selection of farmers and consequently of the fields, the following conditions were lay down: willingness of the farmer to make available to the project a plot of at least 0.5 acres and easily accessible to farmers in the surrounding area, access to water. The demonstration fields will be used for training activities of coffee growers and for the experimentation of climate smart technologies.
In the demonstration fields it will be possible to use Farmer Field Schools methodology, that is, a group learning approach for adults that teaches farmers how to experiment and solve problems independently. Plant management techniques will be tested (pruning, fertilization, plant pathology control, shading, sustainable water management, planting layouts, soil management), harvesting techniques and post-harvest product management techniques. The management of the demonstration fields will be delegated to the agronomists or technicians of the cooperatives, under the direction of the project technicians, 2 Field coordinators and 5 Field officers: the aforementioned technical staff are located in the counties (1 per county) and will have the task of coordinating the various activities foreseen by the project as well as guaranteeing a technical assistance service to the coffee producers involved in the project. For the technical assistance in the field, the technicians have been equipped with motorcycles. Providing that around 250-300 coffee growers refer to each field, it will be possible to involve the 30,000 beneficiaries of the project in the field activities; at least 1 training meeting / month will be organized in each of the fields, for a total of at least 3,780 training sessions during the entire project.
An analysis of the 21 coffee growers’ associations selected for the project activities will be carried out, evaluating the collection centers and product management. Among the associations, the 10 that already have industrial plans for the acquisition of low environmental impact equipment for coffee processing will be selected, which will be able to receive a contribution from the project to purchase an eco-pulper. This machine allows the pulping of cherries to be carried out with a lower water consumption, always with a view to adopting techniques that respect the environment and allow for the optimization of production factors. As mentioned, elements for the selection of the cooperatives that will be able to receive the contribution are: presence of a strategic plan, willingness to share costs; willingness to make machinery available for demonstration purposes.
2 technicians and 2 coffee growers will be selected for each of the associations (total 84) who will participate in a training course on the use of coffee processing machinery. This course will also include training on the cherry management component from arrival to the center of processing, pulping of the cherries and drying. The involvement of coffee growers is important because the processing phase in the center depends on the quality of the cherries delivered by the coffee growers and their ability to make a quality harvest and correct selection. A training course will be provided for the production of compost from the waste of coffee processing from cherry to parchment. The use of waste from the pulping of coffee and pruning residues to produce compost contributes to the reduction of environmental pollution in rural areas and to the development of eco-sustainable agriculture. A mixture of waste from the pulping of coffee integrated with cow manure and fertilizers (phosphorus and urea) provide an excellent quality compost, superior to some bio-organic fertilizers present on the agricultural market. The compost, used for the fertilization of coffee plantations in the amount of 2-3 kg / plant / year during 3 Years reduces the use of chemical fertilizers by 20% - 30%, improving soil fertility and the content of mineral nutrients in the leaves of coffee plants.
The training will be organized and carried out by experts from the Coffee Research Institute in collaboration with the project staff. 4 courses will be organized with the participation of 42 technicians and 42 coffee growers for each course. The courses will last 5 days each.
Within the process of improving the coffee supply chain, training cycles for coffee growers on farm management will be provided; this path will be carried out both through theoretical training meetings held by leading coffee growers trained on climate smart production and by project technicians and through practical sessions at the selected and operational demonstration fields at each association. The aim of the training course is to increase the basic knowledge of producers directing them to a more effective management of their "farm". The 63 CBT trainers trained during activity A2.1 will train 30,000 farmers on basic managerial skills (coffee growing, record keeping, cost and cost control, family and gender in coffee growing, income management and cash flow, etc.). The purpose of this training is to increase the basic knowledge of manufacturers by directing them towards more effective management of their companies to maximize profits. The 231 coffee growers trained in climate smart production and disease control techniques and the 84 technicians and coffee growers trained in the use of coffee processing machinery and in composting techniques for coffee growers, will hold awareness and information meetings with producers who are members of the associations during the II and III years. The aim of the meetings will be to improve the basic skills of cooperative members in managing their farm. Estimating the possibility that each trainer (a total of 300 total) can transmit information and raise awareness of another 100 producers (4 meetings with 25 coffee growers / meeting: total 1,200 meetings), it will be possible to have a final number of sensitized coffee producers equal to about 30,000.
R3 Improvement of the basic managerial skills of beneficiary coffee growers and training on good governance practices dedicated to farmers' organizations, with particular attention to transparency and traceability of the product.
ARABIKA is empowering coffee cooperatives, small companies and coffee growers to directly address local and international markets through a value chain approach. We focus on the generation of business models that facilitate involvement of small producers to access local niche and international markets.
We build the capacity of the members on ethical practices that aim to ensure the achievement of the social objectives and to ensure that the cooperative is managed sustainably. A performance evaluation procedure will be developed at the level of the farmer, processing unit and cooperative.
ACTIVITIES
In order to allow small scale farmers in cooperatives to directly address local and international markets, it is critical to adopt a value chain approach because of the following:
- Quantity and quality are important factors. Large enough quantities are important for consistent supply to the buyer and high-quality coffee is important in order to get a good price from the market.
- Having a unified brand which will incorporate the cooperatives will go a long way towards marketing and branding of the county brands.
- 30,000 coffee growers will eventually be onboarded onto a digital platform which will showcase their coffee produce and give the coffee increased visibility in the local and international market.
- Therefore, the development of managerial skills and knowledge of good governance and traceability / quality management practices will be managed from a value chain perspective.
- for each intervention region, 3 cooperatives will be identified capable of guiding the creation of a value chain, for a total of 21;
- the training will be provided directly to the managers of these cooperatives (4 managers per cooperative, for a total of 84)
- in particular, the following will be involved in the training: the managerial figure, the commercial director, the person in charge of relations with the cooperatives plus a fourth trainer);
- managerial training will focus on the generation of business models that can facilitate, on the one hand, the involvement of small producers, on the other hand, access to local niche markets and international markets, and which are fair with upstream subjects of the value chain (coffee growers).
- transparency training will focus on the construction of tools that make it possible to verify and evaluate the quality of the coffee delivered, clearly assigning an objective ranking
- these trainings will lead cooperatives to develop business models, governance and traceability suitable, on the one hand, for their regions of origin and, on the other hand, to facilitate access to markets and adherence to the brand and marketing activities.
- the trained managers, led by the experts of E4Impact, CEFA and AVSI, will transfer these models to small producers and coffee growers, so that they can adopt them and therefore can automatically contribute to the creation of fair value chains ready for quality exports.
Once the information has been collected and systematized, a general training program will be defined which will then be adapted to the needs of the individual associations. The themes foreseen in the training process will be:
Managerial skills Governance Transparency
- Analysis of the value chain Conflict resolution Transparency
- Product development and Risk management, Accountability
Promotion - Level of democracy,
- Development and
management of vertical
strategic alliances with
small producers and
companies capable of
adding value
- Identification and
management of key
distributors
- Building sustainable
business models
- Integration of business
models and construction
of the value chain.
Management training is built on the following principles:
- Learning by doing: the beneficiaries will acquire the necessary skills through the construction of their own value chain;
- Peer-to-peer: the beneficiaries will participate in the training in groups coming from the same geographical region in order to facilitate the creation of strategic alliances and therefore the structuring of value chains;
- Action-based: the contents of the training consist of tools, good practices and models that the participants can use to develop the value chains, to be applied directly;
- Mentoring: precisely in the light of the previous principles, trainers are actually mentors, whose role is to guide the beneficiaries in the application of tools aimed at creating value chains, and in the structuring of strategic alliances;
- Business Model: each participant will develop his own business model in order to ensure that, on the one hand, strategic decisions are fixed and can become the object of implementation and, on the other hand, that the various business models of the participants integrate and give rise to the value chain, and finally that the fair involvement of small producers / coffee growers is ensured in these;
- Impact: training will ensure that business models and value chains develop in their own integration, and are aimed at maximizing social and environmental impact.
The training will be structured in a cycle of workshops lasting 12 days and thereafter mentoring sessions for all the 21 cooperatives as per the training topics.
Output of the training and mentoring activities will be:
- 21 business models of cooperatives, which include small producers, and with a high socio-environmental impact;
- 7 fair value chains ready for quality exports;
- 84 trained managers of 21 cooperatives
Beneficiaries and outcomes of this activity will be:
- 21 cooperatives that will have adopted inclusive business models with a high socio-environmental impact, and will have set up a fair value chain ready for quality exports;
- 84 cooperative managers will have improved the managerial skills necessary for cooperative development, creation of value chains and financial management;
- At least 2,400 members of supported cooperatives have better involvement in the value chain.
The purpose of the cooperative governance training is to build the capacity of the members on ethical practices that aim to ensure the achievement of the social objectives and to ensure that the cooperative is managed in a sustainable way. In order to ensure transparency between the various management bodies of the Cooperative, generating relevant, timely, reliable and verifiable information, minimizing the conflicts of interest contained therein. The project conducted a 3-day ToT for 63 preselected CBT trainers (3 trainers for each of the 21 cooperatives). CBT trainers will subsequently conduct training courses to 30,000 coffee growers in their respective counties. Each trainer will train and follow about 500 farmers divided into groups of 50 members each. The clusters will be composed of farmers from the same local area and will have a specific farmer as the cluster leader.
The aim of this activity is to identify gaps and training needs within the management of coffee cooperatives in order to provide a tailor-made solution to each of them. A consultant was hired to carry out a detailed assessment of the training needs of each cooperative. The consultant will hold a meeting day with each cooperative's management team for an evaluation. The identified gaps and recommendations formed the basis of the training program on the governance skills of associations' management for each of the cooperatives.
A detailed training program on governance and managerial skills was developed based on the identified training needs of the cooperatives. Direct training for managers, members and associates in Social Enterprise Management and Governance and Democracy, leadership and assembly management was conducted. A total of 168 leaders were trained from the 21 cooperatives. Managers of cooperatives participating in the training program will be helped to participate in sectoral meetings and working groups.
To ensure management of the flow of products entering the association based on quality and warehouse management, 8 managers were selected and trained on coffee traceability. We will proceed to build a model that allows us to uniquely identify the product delivered by the single manufacturer selected on the basis of quality, weight before it is processed in bulk. The product survey and evaluation sheets will allow you to clearly define how much and which product has been delivered by each manufacturer. Management sheets of the processed product will be prepared to be able to identify and divide it according to quality (size and average weight of the grain, organoleptic characteristics) so that the association has clearly identified the flow from arrival to storage. The entire process should lead to complete traceability and transparency of the process with a strong focus on quality control at all stages (from field production to parchment coffee).
The objective of this activity is to establish the performance objectives and to define the evaluation procedure at the level of the farmer, processing unit and cooperative. 50 representatives per co-operative will participate in a 2-day seminar moderated by the subcounty co-operative official. On the first day, individual transformation units will be guided in setting goals for their members. These will guide the definition of the cooperative objectives to be held on the second day. Representatives will also define the evaluation procedure at each level. Annual goals will also be printed on posters and posted in factories and cooperatives. At the end of the year, farmers, processing units and cooperatives will conduct the self-assessment according to the established assessment procedure. Performance results will be announced and discussed at general meetings (annual or special meeting) and new performance targets will be set for the following year. The procedure will also define the reward for excellent performance and a solution for performance deficient. The evaluation criteria will include parameters such as: production levels (quantity and quality), coffee prices, gender inclusion in the leadership position, proper record keeping, good financial management, education and training of members, involvement of members by the leadership etc. Selections of member groups to share questions with on a card A) Evaluation of what to measure B) Quality and prices of coffee C) Involvement of members in decisions Provision of services from the association.
R4 Accurate registration of coffee farmers and mapping of coffee areas in selected counties
A digital platform will be developed for traceability and allow effective mitigation and automation of key processes along the coffee supply chain and monitoring. The objective is that the platform is accessible and manageable by specific subjects involved in the project, with an interest to create and maintain an updated data set relevant for strategic development of the Kenyan coffee subsector. The digital platform will map the entire sub-sector and its actors through farmer distributions, land under coffee production, geographic characteristics, soil composition, coffee varieties, the geographical altitude, the micro-climate, coffee labs and other indicators that combined allow for the profiling of the different coffee terroirs. All the results of the sensory analyzes will be duly incorporated into the digital platform to allow the cataloging of updated and reliable information regarding the current set of sensory characteristics and therefore the quality of all the coffee produced and sold in the country.
The complete dataset will be integrated into the digital platform to enable visualization, reporting, monitoring, evaluation and other analytical activities by the relevant institutions to which the platform will be delivered.
ACTIVITIES
The implementation of this digital platform involves the purchase of a specific information system (IT system), which will be further developed and adapted to securely store the data of small farmers who are members of the cooperatives selected for implementation in the seven counties identified for the initiative. The storage system must have the capacity to host large amounts of data to allow (a collection of a variety of types of information such as personal data of growers and cooperatives, socio-economic data, images and videos, geographic and cartographic coordinates, etc. in order to allow a wide range of analytical activities, based on the information collected, such as reporting and evaluation activities by the interested parties, in a safe and simple way.
The objective is that the platform is accessible and manageable by specific subjects involved in the project, whose interest is to create and maintain an updated data set and therefore relevant for the strategic development of the Kenyan coffee subsector. The digital platform will need to be developed to accommodate a large set of data from beyond 30,000 small farmers and major relevant institutions present in the coffee subsector, in order to make it possible to map the entire sub-sector and its actors.
The platform should be as free of maintenance costs as possible and should have no usage costs.
The system will have features that will allow for multifunctional use and as such will be used by different institutions for specific purposes. Kenyan government institutions, such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MOALF), as well as the local governments of the counties involved in the production and trade of coffee, will be able to access it in addition to the Italian Agency for Cooperation and international development based in Nairobi (AICSNairobi) with the aim of monitoring and evaluating the available data collected and the implementation of the project.
This activity involves digitizing the available personal and socio-economic data of at least 30,000 small farmers and the cooperatives of which they are members. These cooperatives will be the same choices for intervention in all seven selected counties. The data will be collected from the existing records available at the selected cooperatives and will be integrated with the data collected during the survey and census missions in the field, which will be conducted by data collectors trained by local and international experts. In addition to information relating to the selected cooperatives and their respective members, the basic business registers of millers (secondary processors) will also be collected, digitized and made available on the platform.
In collaboration with the E4Impact Foundation, a team of expert geographers / cartographers will conduct accurate georeferenced studies in the rural areas where the coffee producers associated with the selected cooperatives are concentrated. The areas will be identified and measured starting from georeferencing technology, in order to develop a georeferenced digital map or image of all the land affected by the proposed initiative.
The collected data will subsequently be uploaded and made available on the digital platform and consequently will provide updated information on the exact quantity and size of the land of the properties dedicated to the production of coffee.
An accurate data collection activity will be implemented by data collectors trained to identify the complete natural environment around the coffee growing areas by the selected cooperative societies, in order to precisely identify specific characteristics such as soil composition, variety of the coffee plants, the geographical altitude, the microclimate and other indicators that combined allow for the profiling of the different coffee terroirs. The complete dataset will be integrated into the digital platform to enable visualization, reporting, monitoring, evaluation and other analytical activities by the relevant institutions to which the platform will be delivered.
This activity involves the collection of data on the results of the sensory analyzes carried out (taste, smell, consistency, etc.). All the results of the sensory analyzes will be duly incorporated into the digital platform by survey and data collection experts, to allow the cataloging of updated and reliable information regarding the current set of sensory characteristics and therefore the quality of all the coffee produced and sold in the country. to local and foreign markets
This activity involves the identification and collection of data regarding the physical presence and basic registration information of the coffee tasting laboratories present in the selected counties of the intervention, including the facilities in operation before the proposed intervention and those that plans to build during the planned implementation period. Such activity will enable Kenyan government institutions, namely the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MOALF) and other related agencies, the Italian Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AICS-Nairobi) and possibly other institutions interested in evaluating the country's existing coffee tasting infrastructure and the technical know-how offered by laboratory facilities in the counties selected by the proposed intervention.
This activity involves the development of the traceability component of the digital platform to allow effective mitigation and automation of key processes along the coffee supply chain and monitoring activities such as those concerning (a) excessive reliance on paper documentation, (b ) the need to minimize the need for manual data input, (c) traceability available and provide the Kenyan government (and other relevant actors as appropriate) the ability to trace the origin of the coffee produced and (d) provide for the delivery of a tamper-proof certificate along the coffee supply chain. The activity will be implemented through the support of traceability experts of the IT supply chain (IT / blockchain developers), who will have the purpose of developing and making operational a blockchain solution in which both producers and other relevant actors in the supply chain, and the identification of coffee products in their different phases (cherry, mbuni, parchment, green and roasted) can be traced correctly. This process will involve a series of testing phases (centralized vs decentralized IT systems and competing blockchain technologies such as Mediledger's Ethereum blockchain and IBM's Hyperledger system, for example) to identify the most suitable solution for the needs of the coffee sub-sector. Kenya.
Once fully developed and operational, the digital system will be delivered to the relevant Kenyan authorities through a two-step process which will involve (a) the implementation of a workshop and (b) a ceremony to officially present and hand over the digital platform to the Kenyan authorities. designated. The 1-day workshop will be offered to the officials of the Coffee Desk (AFA's Coffee Directorate at MOALF) and will also see the presence of competent staff from national and local public institutions related to coffee (government of the counties involved in the proposal), the Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development and other selected relevant stakeholders of the Kenyan coffee sub-sector.
The handover ceremony will host about 50 participants and will serve as an event for the official presentation and transfer of ownership of the digital system and user manual to the MOALF officials involved in the initiative. The event will also be attended by public officials, representatives of AICS-Nairobi and the Italian government, important public and private stakeholders in the Kenyan coffee sub-sector and national and international specialized press.
In a relatively similar way to the methodology for activity 1.8 above, the fully operational digital system will be delivered to the competent Italian authorities at AICS-Nairobi through a process that will involve the implementation of a short tutorial workshop, in which interested officials will have access to the system and they will learn how to use it. The short seminar will officially conclude with a special and restricted ceremony for the official handover of the digital platform and its user manual to the AICS authorities in Nairobi, Kenya.
R5. Increase in the revenue of coffee growers through the marketing of traceable Kenyan coffee brands, to be offered to specialized international gourmet markets
Three different Labels will be defined with relative qualitative characterization for each individual County in order to guarantee added value for the producer and the consumer.
This will make it possible to differentiate and characterize different product profiles, with homogeneous standards depending not only on the geographical origin, but also on the quality. The different coffee labels can then be sold to ‘target market’ for international trade, as well as to niche markets for Specialty Coffee or Organic Coffee.
The project will conclude with a series of actions aimed at the international promotion of new brands through international fairs and local campaigns.
ACTIVITIES
An in-depth investigation will be carried out on the state of the art of existing coffee brands, as well as on individual coffee profiles and labels, which are already existing and recognized at national / county level (NB: all brands in use are exclusively aimed at promoting local consumption). This in-depth analysis of the current situation will be carried out in partnership with the major local stakeholders, involving in particular the "Coffee Directorate", with whom we came into contact at the level of need analysis, and which on February 14, 2015 has already filed the first Mark of Origin named after: “Coffee Kenya”. Figure 1. Brand logo: Coffee Kenya At this level, the preliminary work will be to set up a working group with all the main stakeholders, for an initial definition of the distinctive characteristics of the brand. Given that the ultimate goal is to allow both greater local diffusion of the product and access to the international market, the Focus Group must be made up of all the key players at the national level, starting with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Cooperatives - MoALFC, passing through the Coffee Research Institute and the aforementioned Coffee Directorate, also including a government representative for each of the 7 reference counties. The working group will also include producers, distributors, buyers and end customers. Finally, considering the need to differentiate the brand, creating different "Profiles" according to the cultivation area (Western, Kenya and Central Kenya), as well as different "Quality Labels" according to the County of origin of the product (see next activity - A.2), the Focus Group will be divided into Subgroups in which all public and private entities (primarily the Cooperatives, but also all the actors in the value chain) for each County will take part. These territorial groupings will also be the basis of the following two activities.
The creation of brands will be divided into 3 fundamental activities:
1. Definition of a Brand identity and therefore the identification through the Focus Group of the following elements:
- key brand values;
- product strengths;
- quality standards;
- social and environmental standards;
- key messages;
- logo;
- motto.
2. Definition of a communication strategy for each brand:
- identification of influencers;
- creation of communication materials;
- creation of facebook, instagram, tiktok accounts;
- creation of partnerships with local and national newspapers;
- implementation of the online and traditional bell.
3. Definition of the criteria of use of the brand that cooperatives and coffee growers must respect in order to use brands and services:
- quality standards;
- quantitative standards;
- social and environmental standards.
Output will be the creation of 7 brands, one for each of the identified counties, each including brand identity, communication strategy and usage criteria. This activity will be preparatory to activities 5 and 6 of Lot B, while it is based on the outcome of Activities 2, 3 and 4 of the same for the definition of the qualitative, quantitative and cup profiles that will be associated with these brands. Beneficiaries of this activity will be the 30,000 coffee growers who will join the brands through the cooperatives of which they are members as described by Activity 5.
First of all, a sampling and analysis of 50 soil samples will be carried out for each individual county, in order to define the characteristics of the soil for each individual county, most relevant and influential on the peculiarities of coffee. Furthermore, an analysis of the data relating to the meteorological conditions of each single geographical area will be implemented, making use of expert technical consultants. This analysis of the agroecological data in the single coffee areas will offer the opportunity to define the selection of certain "Coffee Labels", according to the characteristics of the cultivation areas (ie altitude above sea level, methods of cultivation and harvesting of the coffee, physical and organoleptic characteristics, etc.), which will be assigned a QR code. We would like to arrive at the complete definition of at least 7 different labels, one for each county, with relative characterization. The creation of these labels, in addition to giving important information to potential consumers on the type and origin of the product, as well as on the quality and social standards the environment that the coffee must have, will be the basis for the definition of a specific Market Plan on a territorial basis. At this level, the work will be to collect some basic elements characterizing the Business Plans of the different Cooperatives of the same territory (ref. To the outputs of the Capacity Building activity of coffee growers / associations - last activity of Lot 1), and to define some elements of added value for all those who will be authorized to use the Label.
Below are some of the elements of added value related to belonging to the brand:
- Access to particular conditions or contact with the suppliers of goods and services within the supply chain (e.g. framework agreements with the Millers or Roasters of reference, or with sector consultants),
- Access to particular facilitations at the logical level and at economy of scale,
- Use of a collective trade mark communication strategy,
- Access to particular product sales conditions through privileged local and international distribution channels.
In this way, the adhesion by local coffee-growers to the brands supported by the project will be favored, and this will allow a great diffusion in the selected counties of the Mark of Origin: "Coffee Kenya", deposited in 2015 by the Coffee Directorate and currently used only in sporadic cases.
At this level, the project will collaborate regularly with all the national and international promotion initiatives of the Kenyan coffee labels, organized by the counties.
Once the Labels have been defined with relative qualitative characterization, and once the coffee supply chain has been approached for each individual County in order to guarantee added value for the producer and the consumer, samples of the product coming from the different chains will be collected and analyzed. of the local value, to define at least 3 different "Cup profiles", for the coffee coming from the different macro-areas of the country:
- Eastern Kenya for Machakos County,
- Center Kenya for Kiambu, Muranga, Nyeri, Meru, Embu counties,
- West ern Kenya for Bungoma County.
The above exercise will make it possible to differentiate and characterize different product profiles, with homogeneous standards depending not only on the geographical origin, but also on the quality, also selecting a more valuable coffee to be destined for international trade, as well as some particular "di niche ”, such as Specialty Coffee or Organic Coffee. In this phase, the dissemination of the results of the analyzes to the various coffee growers and the various cooperatives will be carried out within the workshops already planned as part of other project activities (and especially at the coffee festivals at the county level, as well as at the National Coffee Festival). A final technical report on the outcomes of this specific activity will be done.
Once established, the promotion of the 7 brands at the county level and the brand at the national level will be developed along 3 lines.
1. Implement a campaign of development of the value chain of the cooperatives supported in the course of managerial training, and aimed at transferring as much value as possible to producers. Based on the integration of business models developed and integrated by cooperatives in a value chain, the local market linkages expert will facilitate the signing of agreements with companies that can lead to the implementation of business models. These agreements will benefit the cooperatives and the members of the same, and will include the following:
1. purchase of digital services for credit score aimed at facilitating access to loans by individual producers affiliated with cooperatives;
2. bulk purchase of inputs with consequent reduction in production costs;
3. bulk transformation services (eg pulping, roasting, ...) with consequent addition of value to the product;
4. bulk packaging services with further added value;
5. product distribution services through online sales platforms such as mShamba and Seliina Whamuchi;
6. product transport services in the major cities of Kenya;
7. purchase of the processed product by local big & bulk buyers (wholesalers, organized distribution, supermarket chains);
8. shared communication.
Through these agreements, the cooperatives, and with them the producer members, will be able to:
- lower production costs;
- increase the selling price through both the addition of value and commercial agreements that cut out the middle men;
- extend the market both by expanding the distribution network and by reaching the final consumer directly through digital platforms.
The ultimate consequence of this activity is the redistribution of the sales value towards the producers, thus rebalancing the coffee value chain. Output: the project will create and activate a minimum of 8 commercial ac cords, one for each of the areas indicated above.
2. Implementation of an affiliation campaign aimed at associating the largest number of cooperatives and producers. The campaign will leverage the 21 cooperatives supported in management training to present to their members, other cooperatives and real estate farmers, the benefits of membership through the results of Activities 1, 5 and 6 of Lot B. The affiliation campaign will be structured as follows:
- production of information materials on affiliation conditions and benefits (30,000 flyers)
- 7 SMS and WhatsApp campaigns of the brand and related benefits, 1 in each county, aimed at cooperative members for soliciting further interest;
- Opening of 21 information points, one at each of the cooperatives supported during the management training, where other cooperatives and their members, as well as real estate farmers can find information and materials relating to the conditions of affiliation;
- Opening of a telephone and online helpdesk to support the affiliation process of each candidate;
The direct involvement of the cooperatives will allow the diffusion of the advantages and conditions of affiliation to the members of the cooperatives themselves.
Output of this activity will be:
- 60,000 cooperative members will be reached by the affiliation campaign;
- 30,000 coffee growers who are members of the cooperatives reached will join the brand of their region through the cooperatives themselves.
3. A promotional field based on brand identity and communication strategy defined according to Activity 1 of Lot B and articulated as follows:
- Media promotional campaign via Radio - Television - Newspaper in order to outline the properties of coffee and to promote the consumption of the product on the local market;
- Coffee Harvesting / Tasting County Festivals, in order to make to make the local public aware of the functioning of the local supply chain, as well as the qualitative and socioenvironmental standards of Kenyan coffee. Within these festivals, competitions are expected to be held to select and reward the best quality coffees;
- Campaign for the promotion of the installation of coffee machines affiliated with government institutions, in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Cooperatives - MoALFC, the Coffee Directorate and the Coffee Research Institute;
- Organization of a National Coffee Day in Nairobi, with the participation of various international coffee brands, to promote the internationalization of Kenyan coffee;
- Creation of a Kenyan Coffee Consumer's Group aimed at activating citizenship and promoting the consumption of Kenyan coffee through the launch of: Facebook, Instagram and TikTok accounts;
Local purchasing groups at the county level;
In addition to the 7 labels at a local level, the 3 cup profiles and the brand at a national level, these promotional campaigns will also publicize the particular qualities of "niche" coffee (specialty coffee / organic coffee etc.) that can be produced in certain geographical areas / cooperatives / coffee growers.
Output of this activity will be: - 500,000 Kenyan citizens reached and sensitized; - 50,000 people actively participate in Kenyan coffee Consumer's Group.
Beneficiary and outcome of this activity will be:
- 60,000 coffee growers who are members of cooperatives who will have enjoyed the improved visibility of the coffee of the counties of origin, through the campaign to promote new brands;
- 30,000 coffee growers affiliated to the brands who will have improved the profitability of their production through the new commercial networks and the national communication campaign;
- 500,000 citizens will have improved their knowledge of Kenyan coffee;
- 50,000 people will have acquired an active role in promoting Kenyan coffee by increasing consumption.
The project will conclude with a series of actions aimed at the international promotion of new brands. Beneficiaries of these actions will be the 21 cooperatives supported during the managerial training and who participated in the creation of the brands and value chains.
These actions will be organized as follows:
1. Organization of a series of 5 meetings with international buyers present in Kenya and aimed at deepening the theme (already examined in the last activity of lot A) of the alignment of the product presented by the cooperative with international standards (and facilitating trade agreements for export);
2. Guarantee the participation of 3 cooperatives in the Milan Coffee Festival (https://www.milancoffeefestival.com/) through which to launch on the market of Italian coffee enthusiasts and specialist distributors of Kenyan coffee brands and facilitate commercial connections to enter the Italian market, with particular reference to the trade day for sector operators;
3. Guarantee the participation of 3 other cooperatives, to the Artigiano in Fiera (https://artigianoinfiera.it/en/) through which to make the Kenyan brands known to the generalist consumer. Participants will also benefit from the appropriate B2B service made available by the organizer;
4. Guarantee the participation of 7 other cooperatives, 1 per county, in Connext (https://connext.confindustria.it/2020/), the largest Italian B2B event organized by Confindustria (7,000 participants on average) in order to create connections between the supported cooperatives and Italian companies that can facilitate the distribution of the product in Italy, the improvement of quality, the modernization of production infrastructures. Participating cooperatives will benefit from the Confindustria matchmaking service. In addition to physical participation, all 21 cooperatives will be able to participate in the online section of Connext (40,000 participants);
5. Matchmaking with roasters, distributors, manufacturers of processing machinery and international tasters aimed at opening commercial channels in Italy. This activity will be carried out in partnership with Confindustria and provides for the creation of online contacts which may be followed by meetings in Italy on the occasion of the participation of cooperatives in the aforementioned events. This process may also be facilitated by companies that have already shown interest in developing commercial links with Africa in the past: Caffè River, Moak caffè, Trismoka, Diemme and Goppion (costs included in the price for the fair stand).
Output of this activity will be:
- at least 10,000 Italian consumers will have known and appreciated the Kenyan coffee brands (the average participants in the Milan Coffee Festival are 6,000; 200,000 those at the Artigiano in Fiera);
- at least 63 international business contacts generated, 3 for each of the 21 cooperatives selected to represent the 7 brands.
Beneficiary and outcome will be.
- 30,000 coffee growers will have enhanced access to international markets through brand affiliation;
- 10,000 Italian consumers will have started consuming coffee produced under the 7 brands