ARABIKA Project Area

7 Counties

Areas of intervention:

Areas of intervention: over 99% of Kenyan coffee is made up of Arabica, grown in 31 counties and six coffee-producing regions, namely: Mt Kenya West (Central); Mt Kenya East (Eastern); North Rift; South; and Western Region. This project will be implemented in 7 counties. 6 traditional farming counties and one county, Bungoma, in the western region. The criteria for the selection of these counties consist of: i) current production and population of farmers (approximately 75% of all clean coffee produced in Kenya and 70% of small coffee farmers are found in the selected counties); (ii) aligning coffee revitalization with county priorities for agricultural development; (iii) complementarity with other ongoing revitalization initiatives such as the World Bank project on coffee.

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Alignment with the partner country

Alignment with the partner country, national and local strategies and plans and on-site coordination methods.

The proposed project is conceived in line with the plans and strategies of national governments and counties on the development of the coffee supply chain. The consortium has built relationships and will continue to engage in the continuation of the dialogue with the governments of the partner counties, the Coffee Directorate and other partners / development interventions to understand their commitment in the sector in order to ensure that what realized by this project is complementary and integrates in a constructive way with what has been realized by others or under construction. This process has made it possible to identify collaboration opportunities and has helped (and will continue to do so) to avoid the risk of duplication.

At the national level, the proposed project is designed to integrate and complete the current roadmap for the Development of the Coffee Sector in Kenya. The roadmap foresees eight fundamental elements that guide and orient the way forward for the growth of the coffee sector. 1) Policies and Legal Reforms; 2) Development of Innovations and Technology; 3) Financing of Coffee Production, Processing and Marketing; 4) Involvement of women and young people in the coffee sector; 5) Institutional support of the coffee sector; 6) Kenya coffee marketing; 7) Prudent financial management of coffee institutions; 8) Facilitation of entrepreneurship in the sector. The project paid particular attention to points 2,3,4,5,6 and 7.

At the county level, the project is aligned with the coffee action plans reported in the various Integrated Development Plans of the counties. Coffee is among the priority income crops and the revitalization of the sector is one of the main priorities in all the counties affected by this project. The counties plan to achieve this through increased production, greater value added along the supply chain and marketing efforts. For example, the Meru County government plans to support the Meru County Coffee Millers Union in processing (brushing, sorting, roasting), branding, packaging and accessibility to the market which offers opportunities for collaboration and synergies. In addition, most counties plan to support upgrading of coffee processing facilities, particularly the replacement of damaged drying beds on which the project will work

In the counties where the project will intervene, many companies and associations of coffee producers present serious governance and management problems, so much so that governments have given priority to improving governance and management through the training and education of management committees. , staff and members of cooperatives. The project will intervene strongly on this aspect in close collaboration with the counties.

The consortium also had meetings and discussions with representatives of other initiatives aimed at developing the sector such as, for example, the Focal Point of the World Bank's coffee sector revitalization project. The information obtained from these meetings will help in the selection of the beneficiary associations / cooperatives and as well as in the choice / selection of the tasting workshops to be strengthened with the aim of avoiding any risk of duplication of the intervention.

To ensure the best adherence of the project activities to the strategies of the counties, a project management committee will be established at the county level, composed of representatives of the project team and of the main stakeholders. The project management committee will play a key role in providing oversight of the progress and performance of the project. It will meet on a quarterly basis and analyze the results achieved in the previous period and prepare the plan for the following quarter, recommending the best strategies.

At the project level, an annual strategic planning meeting will be organized with representatives of key stakeholders.

It will consist of:

1. Representative of the consortium
2. Project Manager
3. Technical manager of the project in the county
4. Representatives of the beneficiary coffee cooperatives
5. Head of the Department of Agriculture (County Government)
6. Head of the Cooperative Department (County Government)
7. Representative of the Coffee Research Foundation
8. Representatives of other county coffee chain development interventions.