In coffee, this man of God finds a calling

KAKAMEGA, KENYA: In the deep of Kakamega County in Mukumu, there is a man of God who has decided to take a risk and go against the grain.

Father Felix Lekule of Shibuye Catholic Parish in Kakamega and chaplain of St Elizabeth Mukumu Mission Hospital, has ventured into coffee farming despite the fact that fellow farmers in the area are abandoning the crop for various reasons.

Many coffee farmers countrywide have uprooted their coffee owing to poor yields and low returns, but Lekule has hope that coffee being a leading foreign exchange earner is still rewarding despite the storms.

“Odd as it may sound, I decided to venture into coffee farming because I know the crop’s potential. While I was in Tanzania on missionary work, I tried my hand in coffee farming and the project thrived. Despite the fact that some farmers are uprooting their crop for cane, I have decided to stay put. I even plan to expand the project,” says Lekule with optimism.

Lekule has planted 7,500 stems of Ruiru 11 coffee at Mukumu Farm and is targeting to plant over 35,000 stems on the church’s expansive 35 acres land.

Mukumu Farm, which is a food basket for the community, was started in 1926 by one brother Michael who engaged in farming and missionary work back then. Father Lekule took over the farm in 2010 when the brother retired.

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“When I took over Mukumu Farm from brother Michael in 2010, I was told to try either tea or coffee. I started with tea but the experience was not very good. I decided to start coffee farming which is proving to be profitable than tea,” he said.

According to tea experts, Ruiru 11 is a breed of Arabica coffee which is highly valued globally and is referred to as black gold.

The variety is disease resistant making it difficult to be infested with coffee leaf rust disease and coffee berry diseases.

Fr Lekule confirms this fact: “I have never used any chemicals or insecticides on my farm, Ruiru 11 is resistant to diseases.” Though he looks like he has arrived, the priest says the journey has been hilly.

First, getting quality seeds has been a problem.

When he was starting off, it took him over a year to source for the seeds from Ruiru. Before that, he had waited for one and half years to get a license from the Kenya Planters’ Co-operative Union.

“There was high demand for seeds and I had to wait for long. I planted my first seeds in my nursery in 2011,” he said.

In 2012, he transplanted the coffee seedlings from the nursery to the farm and in 2015 he has already harvested the first berries.

“I have harvested my first harvest this year. I have around 70 kilograms of coffee in my store,” says the father.

The farmer plans to sell his berries to a local factory in the area.

Father Lekule uses organic manure to plant his coffee.

Berry preparation

“Coffee is planted at a spacing of two metres by two metres and two metres deep in the soil. Holes for planting are dug two months earlier then covered by manure in readiness for planting at the onset of rainfall. After at least two years the berries are ready to harvest,” says Lekule.

He says the harvested berries are pulped in a machine then soaked in water for four days to obtain clean berries.

“I pluck only the red ripe berries. They are sorted before processing to remove unripe or overripe ones. They are then pulped to remove the outer skin. The slimy sugary coating (mucilage) which remains on the beans is removed through fermentation,” Lekule says

After fermentation the beans are separated to grades by washing and put them on drying tables on the sun where it is regularly turned to obtain the bluish colour ready for marketing.

“The machine is able to separate coffee according to grades. One 50 kilograms of coffee cost over Sh28,000 to Sh32,000 on the international market,” says the 54-year-old priest.

He urges other farmers in the area to try coffee farming which he says is more promising than cane farming.

Step by step

“The county government should sensitise farmers on the importance of coffee farming so that they can embrace it. This region is suitable for coffee farming and if more farmers start it, we will end poverty,” he says.

Fr Lekule has hired casual workers to help him on the farm but spares time to educate them on coffee farming.

“I educate my workers on coffee farming. I take them through all steps by myself and I am sure they will be able to embrace coffee farming,”he explains.