|
Type of coffee: |
Arabica, Roasted |
|
Volume (MTs 2003): |
52,146 MT |
|
Value ($ 2003): |
$78,364,236 |
|
Brand names: |
Kenya Coffee House Blend (Roasted), Kahawa
No.1 |
|
Marketing system: |
Auction through catalogue once a week |
|
Processing: |
Wet processing |
|
Harvest season: |
April - June,
October - December |
|
Port of shipment: |
Mombasa |
|
Export destinations: |
Germany, USA, Sweden, Finland, Belgium |
For many people, Kenya is synonymous
with wildlife and safaris. The country has been visited for centuries,
first
by the Arab traders who plied their trade up and down
the eastern coast of Africa, and now by the hundreds of
thousands of tourists who come to experience a taste of
true African wilderness.
Today Kenya is home to over 70 tribal groups and, it is
widely believed, it is also home to almost every major
language in Africa.
Kenya, like Uganda, straddles the equator. It is bordered
to the north by the arid bushlands and deserts of Sudan and
Ethiopia, to the east by Somalia and the Indian Ocean, to
the south by Tanzania, and to the west by Lake Victoria
and Uganda.
Kenya’s array of wildlife is dazzling, and all of the ‘big
five’ (lion, buffalo, elephant, leopard and rhino) can be
seen in at least two of the major parks. The Rift Valley,
especially around the Lake Turkana area, has yielded
hominid skulls, one of which is estimated to be around
21/2 million years old. These discoveries altered accepted
theories on the origin of man.
Historically, the Arabs controlled much of the East African
coast until the arrival of the British and Germans in the
latter part of the 19th Century. White settlement in the
early 20th Century saw the development of agriculture
and the establishment of coffee plantations. Coffee was
introduced to Kenya by way of
Ethiopia.
In the early 1960s, Kenya
achieved independence from the
colonial administration.
The current population of
Kenya is estimated at around
28 million. Agriculture is the
mainstay of the economy,
employing around 80% of the
population and contributing to
50% of the country’s exports
(led by coffee and tea).
The principal food crops include maize, sorghum, cassava,
beans and fruit. Needless to say, tourism is now Kenya’s
largest export earner.
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