Gichuru Presentation - The role of Research in coffee value chain

1. African Coffee Summit 25-27th May 2022 in Nairobi,
Kenya
By
Elijah K. Gichuru
Institute director
Coffee Research institute
Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization
The role of Research in coffee value chain

2. Coffee research in Kenya started in 1908 by an
Entomologist.
Coffee research Foundation (CRF) was registered in
1964 for management and financing by coffee
farmers.
In 2014, CRF was transformed into Coffee Research
Institute (CRI) under Kenya Agricultural and
Livestock Research Organization (KALRO).

3. Vision: “Excellence in coffee research towards
transformed livelihoods”
Mission: “To conduct coffee research through
application of science, technology and innovation to
catalyze sustainable growth and development in the
coffee value chain”
Mandate: to conduct research into and investigate all
issues relating to coffee value chain in areas of
production, processing and marketing, and matters
ancillary thereto”.

4. 4
$
Wealth Creation

5. All nodes of the coffee value chain needs
research
Key objectives: reduce cost of production,
maximise quality, optimize profits
(fair/incentive), sustainability
Responsive and demand driven research

6. Production
a.Choice of varieties
i. Ecology/Adaptability
ii.Market alignment
b.Coffee establishment
c. Coffee nutrition
d.Canopy management
e.Coffee pest management
f. Intercropping and shade trees
g.Soil, water and environmental conservation

7. Disease resistant Kenyan Coffee Varieties

8. Coffee harvesting and processing
i. Efficiency (water, energy, manpower)
ii.Quality of produce
iii.Align to Market niches
Coffee
value
addition

9. Cross-cutting themes
i. Gender, vulnerable and marginalized
groups (VMGS),
ii. Socio, environmental concerns and
cohesion
iii. Coffee as a business along the value
chain
iv. Climate change and climate smart
agriculture
v. Support to formulation of legislation
and policies

10. Current focus of research in Kenya
1.Climate change mitigation and adoption
2.Variety improvement (Arabica, Robusta,
Arabusta)
3.Germplasm conservation
4.Soil fertility management
5.Pest management
6.Processing -Eco-pulping/ efficiency/naturals
7.New areas for expansion and diversification
8.Value addition and domestic consumption
9.Robusta production

11. Research opportunities in Africa
1.Great diversity of coffee genotypes (species and
intra-species)
2.Genetic conservation
3.Diverse coffee consumption methods and tastes
4.Pool of scientists of different disciplines
(collaborations)
5.Pool of scientific results (information,
technologies)-need for sharing and respect
Intellectual properties
6.Potential for centres of excellence

12. Challenges of Coffee research
1. Inadequate investment in research
2. Access to state of the art equipment
a) Expensive
b) they rapidly become obsolete
c) maintenance
3. Inadequate staff development
4. Few scientific forums and participation (need to
strengthen and facilitate African Coffee
Research Network)