Gracias a la alianza y participación activa de la Embajada de Colombia en Kenia, la organización internacional de la sociedad civil Solidaridad de África Central y Oriental,  La Organización de Investigación de Agricultura de Kenia, KALRO , el Instituto del Café de Kenia, y la empresa colombiana Penagos Hermanos, se han iniciado capacitaciones a diversos caficultores kenianos con el propósito de mejorar la calidad del café a través de un mejor procesamiento de la post cosecha,

Para los caficultores es de especial interés atender aspectos como calidad y uso racional del agua, el manejo de residuos y el tiempo de fermentación y secado del cafe.  La maquinaria colombiana diseñada por Penagos Hermanos resuelve estos desafíos especialmente por su bajo impacto ambiental, bajo nivel del uso del agua, forma compacta que utiliza menos espacio y porque integra procesos del despulpe, clasificación y lavado del café.  Además, algunas líneas de máquinas pequeñas se pueden usar por grupos de 5 o 6 agricultores que se benefician de su uso compartido, al tiempo que generará empleabilidad a jóvenes de las regiones.

Las primeras capacitaciones se dieron el día 6 de abril en Nyeri y el día 8 de abril en Kitale, TransZolia County a un total de 300 caficultores. La Inauguración se dio por parte de la Ministra de Agricultura del Condado de Trans-Nzoia, CEC Mary  Nzomo , quien manifestó que su región tiene vocación de ser la despensa agroalimentaria de Kenia.   Claudia Milena Vaca M, primer secretario de la Embajada de Colomba en Kenia hizo una presentación sobre la industria colombiana del café que hoy exporta más de 13 millones de sacos de café, un caso de éxito basado en el trabajo de pequeños caficultores.   La Capacitación teórica estuvo a cargo de Emmanuel M. Kimeu, Científico investigador, de KALRO, quien hablo sobre la importancia de tratar el café con métodos ambientales que redundan en mejor calidad y precio.   La demostración del uso de la maquinaria estuvo a cargo de Stephen Kamondia, distribuidores nacionales de máquinas Penagos.   

La presencia de la empresaria Claudia Penagos, quien viajo desde Bogotá para este evento, fue muy bienvenida y apreciada. Finalmente participo la directora de la Asociación de mujeres caficultoras de Kenia, quien dijo que, al igual que Colombia, las mujeres en su país, son parte fundamental en el cultivo del café, especialmente su recolección.   Durante el evento se ofreció un almuerzo por parte de Procolombia y la Cámara de Comercio de Bucaramaga.

El café, planta originaria de África es hoy en día parte de la identidad colombiana. En este foro se resaltó la importancia para Colombia y para Kenia de colaborarse y complementarse en el desarrollo de sus sectores agroindustriales.

Penagos Coffee Machine Awareness Farmer’s Forums in Kenya

Miss Claudia Penagos, Corporate Relations Manager at Penagos Colombia during her Kenyan visit and I attended the Kitale Coffee Forum in Trans-Nzoia County which was officially opened by the Trans-Nzoia County Minister of Agriculture, CEC Mary Nzomo with the help of Emmanuel M. Kimeu, Research Scientist, Training and advisory services, Stephen Kamondia and Miss Grace, the country dealers of Penagos machines based in Thika,Kenya.Over 300 coffee farmers attended the meeting on 8th April 2022 at KALRO-CRI Kitale Station.

Mr. Diego Botello from Penagos gave an overview of the global network of Penagos and its technologies to 40 Farmers in Nyeri County.

Mr. Emmanuel M. Kimeu sensitized the farmers on the challenges they go through in their coffee processing practices and how the same leads to poor quality beans and prices in addition to meeting the waste disposal requirements as stipulated by the National Environmental Management Agency (NEMA).

Farmers were taken through the operations of the machines and the costing per unit. Key among the concerns by farmers was how to access the machines whenever they want to procure for use in their farms.

On my part, I thanked the working alliance that KALRO and Penagos made.Penagos is now well linked in the Kenyan market and is planning to have many forums for sensitization and sale of its Machines to Kenyan farmers. Penagos technologies will improve efficiency and Coffee bean quality in that will enable quality market standards.

It’s very interesting that Kenya just like Colombia, women have taken the lead in Coffee Farming which has gone a long way in  creation of employment to thousands of women in the sector.

There is need to embrace the “Sharing economy” as way to meet demand  don’t have access and as well creating employment opportunity to those who offer the machine renting services

Having successfully sensitized farmers in Kitale and Nyeri on Penagos Processing technologies, the farmers were excited by the technologies and the following were observations and recommendations reached upon as way forward:

1. The farmers were willing to purchase the machines hence Penagos will provide a machine to KALRO-CRI for use in training at the main station and in the field.Mr. Emmanuel Kimeu will be the lead person in spearheading the implementation of the initiative and as well Penagos to provide other upcoming technologies to KALRO for easy visibility.
2. Penagos machines are only available at the Thika branch which is not accessible to most farmers, hence a need to open other branches in Kenya's farming areas.
3. Majority of the coffee farmers in Kenya are not aware of Penagos Technologies hence the need to create more forums as a marketing strategy for Penagos machine.

Mr. Emmanuel on his part agreed to prepare a proposal of farmer sensitization forums for funding by Penagos and recommended the need for him to visit Colombia and learn more on the technologies

The proposal's model is set to enable visiting of farmers during forums organized by KALRO and other stakeholders.

It will also involve visiting cooperative societies and small Estate groups drawn from farmer cluster groups, during which farmers will be shown the machine and given some explanation on its operations, maintenance and benefits. Photos of other Penagos machines will also be displayed and an in-depth explanation about them given.

Farmers will also be encouraged to form small manageable common interest groups that will enable them to purchase the machines in case the production capacity is low. Stakeholders involved in financing of the coffee sector will also be approached to assist farmers in the purchase of the machines.