The Kegwa coffee factory is located in Central Province, Kirinyaga County, in Njukiini locality of Gichugu Division, near the town of Kianyaga. It was established in the 1960s and is located on a 3-acre plot of land serving Kegwa, Mwiboini, Cieni and Kithiga A and B villages.
Currently is affiliated to the Ngiriambu Farmers Co-operative Society Ltd and has 1,400 members, of which 1,000 are active farmers while 400 are inactive farmers. The most unique aspect of this factory is that it is located near Mbiri market.
The Kegwa coffee factory is managed by a factory manager who oversees all the activities of the factory. Together with other staff members, they carry out tasks such as weighing the coffee, sorting and grading the coffee, paying farmers and dealing with farmers' complaints.
In line with the growing awareness of the need to conserve the environment, the plant has excavated wastewater away from the water source, where wastewater is allowed to soak back into the ground.
The factory is located at about 1504m, accuracy of 13m, location (00 28.102S, 03722.198E). The soil is red. The area experiences moderate bimodal rainfall of about 1200 mm per year with temperatures ranging from 13 to 25 degrees Celsius. Long rains fall between March and May, while short rains occur between October and December.
Processing
After harvesting, all coffee is delivered to the factory and subjected to the wet processing method. Water is pumped from the Nyamindi river to the tanks for pulping and recirculation.
After pulping, the coffee is stored overnight, washed, soaked and spread out on drying tables. The parchment is then rotated frequently on the drying tables, sorted and stored overnight, while waiting to be handed over to the millers, who are also the marketing agents. The factory has invested in a pulping machine, a recirculation system and some 8 conditioning vats.
