Kenya Handege Peaberry

The Region

Gatundu Sub-County, is historically significant as the home of Kenya's first president, Jomo Kenyatta. Formerly part of a larger constituency established in 1966, it was split into Gatundu South and North before the 1997 elections. It has a strong agricultural economy, especially in coffee and dairy farming. 

Kiambu county is located just outside of Nairobi city. The region has a long history of coffee production and is famous for its large estates, which were originally established by British colonists in the early 20th century.

After decolonisation the estates were sold to local Kenyans who have been managing them since. While these large farms used to produce the majority of Kenyan coffee, the increased urban sprawl from Nairobi, as well as the increasing land value in the region has meant that estate coffee production has gradually diminished, while smallholder production elsewhere has increased.

Kiambu has all the ingredients for arabica coffee to flourish: it is close to the equator, has iron rich, semi-volcanic soils, abundant sunshine and consistently high altitudes up to 2,000masl. The cool night time temperatures in these fertile highlands allows cherries to mature slowly, developing the acidity and complexity in the final cup.