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

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.

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.