In the 1980s, most large Kenyan cooperative societies disbanded, but Othaya in Nyeri remained intact, continuing to operate seventeen wet mills, including Kamoini and Gura. Gura benefits greatly from Othaya's resources which include a quality control lab that greatly enhances the mill’s marketing reach overseas.
Mount Kenya, the second tallest peak in Africa, towers over Kenya's Central Province and is surrounded by national forests and protected wildlife zones. The area's local communities reside at high elevations and farm the mineral-rich soil renowned for producing some of Kenya's finest coffees.
Nyeri is a prominent county in this region. Othaya Farmers Cooperative Society, which includes the Gura mill, is one of the larger co-ops, comprising nineteen factories and sourcing from over 14,000 farmers in southern Nyeri. Gura has 500 active members today, producing around 135,000 kgs of parchment coffee per harvest, with each member contributing enough for about four bags of exportable green coffee.
ORIGIN
Nyeri County, Kenya
Kenya's coffee story began in the late nineteenth century when European missionaries introduced the Bourbon Arabica coffee variety from Brazil. The first coffee trees were planted in Bura in the Taita Hills in 1900, followed by Kibwezi in the same year and Kikuyu and Thika in 1904.
Nyeri, situated between Mount Kenya and the Aberdare ranges along the Great Rift Valley's eastern flank, holds a special place in Kenyan hearts. The Kikuyu, Kenya's largest ethnic group, refer to Mount Kenya as the 'Mountain of Whiteness,' believing its white peaks to be the home of the deity 'Ngai.'
Nyeri town serves as a commercial hub, surrounded by coffee and tea farms, the county's two primary cash crops. The Aberdare National Park also draws tourists to Nyeri. Despite its ideal coffee-growing conditions, Nyeri has witnessed declining coffee volumes and dwindling quality in recent years, a trend observed across Kenya as a whole.
