Growing coffee in Kenya
Where is coffee grown in Kenya?
In the highlands, above all around Mount Kenya and the Aberdares, in Kiambu, Kirinyaga, Nyeri, Murang'a, Embu and Meru, and increasingly beyond central Kenya, in Kericho, Nandi, Bungoma and Kisii. Kenya grows about 850,000–950,000 60 kg bags of washed arabica a year, mostly SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11 and Batian, and sells most of it through the Nairobi Coffee Exchange.
At a glance
2026- Production
- 950k bags
- 2026/27 forecast, 60 kg bags
- World rank
- No. 18
- 0.5% of world output
- Species
- Arabica
- Harvest
- Main crop about October to December or early January; fly crop about April to June
- Area under coffee
- 109,384 ha in 33 counties, 2022 (Ministry of Agriculture)
- Growers
- About 80% of coffee sold through cooperatives (USDA)
- Exports
- About 840,000–940,000 bags a year; the EU historically more than half (USDA)
- Main varieties
- SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11, Batian
- Processing
- Washed
Production: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Coffee: World Markets and Trade (July 2026). Other figures describe 2026 and come from the sources at the end of this page. Updated once a year.
Growing regions
All origins- EmbuCounty from about 515 m to 5,199 m on Mount Kenya; coffee in the upper midlands (county plan)Coffee from Embu, Kenya: smallholder SL28 and SL34 from co-operative factories on the slopes of Mount Kenya, with jasmine, red currant, citrus and a syrupy body.
- KerichoLower belt of a county at about 2,000 m (county plan)Coffee from Kericho, Kenya: tea country that became the top coffee county at auction in 2025/26, selling 6 million kg, with its coffee in the lower belt.
- KiambuCoffee from Kiambu, Kenya: the county with the most land under coffee, north of Nairobi, where SL28 and SL34 give black currant, citrus and jasmine.
- KirinyagaCoffee from Kirinyaga, Kenya: washed SL28 and SL34 from cooperatives such as Rung’eto, Baragwi and Kibirigwi, with black currant, citrus, flowers and cacao.
- MeruCounty from 300 m to 5,199 m on Mount Kenya (county plan)Coffee from Meru, Kenya: smallholder SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11 and Batian from the slopes of Mount Kenya, with black currant, blood orange and lemon.
- Murang'aCounty from 914 m in the east to 3,353 m on the Aberdares; coffee in the zones east of the Aberdares (county plan)Coffee from Murang’a, Kenya: the Aberdare county that sold the second-most coffee at auction in 2025/26, with red currant, citrus, cacao and spice.
- NyeriCoffee from Nyeri, Kenya: washed SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11 and Batian from cooperative factories in south-central Kenya, with black currant, citrus and cocoa.
Kenya grows some of the world’s most admired coffee. In the highlands around Mount Kenya and the Aberdares, smallholders in cooperatives grow SL28 and SL34, varieties selected near Nairobi in the 1930s, process them by the washed method and sell them at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange. Kenya grows far less than it did in the 1980s, but its coffee, Coffee Review says, still ranks “among the world’s greatest and most consistent”. Here’s how much, where, when and where it goes.
The short version
- About 850,000–950,000 bags a year, all arabica.
- SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11 and Batian.
- Washed, mostly by cooperatives; about 80% of the crop.
- Two harvests: a main crop from late October and a fly crop from about April.
- The Nairobi Coffee Exchange, since 1935, handles more than 95% of sales.
- Less than half the 1988 peak, as farms gave way to housing.
How much coffee does Kenya grow?
About 850,000–950,000 bags, USDA says, for a coffee year from October to September:
| Coffee year | Production | Exports |
|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 950,000 | 952,000 |
| 2025/26 (estimate) | 850,000 | 840,000 |
| 2026/27 (forecast) | 950,000 | 940,000 |
Source: USDA, May 2026. 60 kg bags.
USDA expects a 12% rise in 2026/27 as farmers, flush after two years of high prices, spend more on fertiliser and disease control, and as new plantings mature. Kenya’s own figures show how far it has fallen:
| Measure | 1988 | 2022 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Area under coffee | 153,030 ha | 109,384 ha | Ministry of Agriculture, via Business Daily |
| Yield | 842 kg/ha | 474 kg/ha | Ministry of Agriculture, via Business Daily |
| Production | 128,637 t | 51,852 t | Ministry of Agriculture, via Business Daily |
USDA’s 950,000 bags for 2024/25 are about 57,000 tonnes, by our calculation. Through the 2025/26 season, the Nairobi Coffee Exchange sold 36.36 million kg of clean coffee by its 29th sale, already more than the 31.33 million kg of the whole 2024/25 season, The Star reports.
Where is coffee grown in Kenya?
In 33 of Kenya’s 47 counties, most of them in the central highlands. By land under coffee in 2022:
| County | Area |
|---|---|
| Kiambu | 20,369 ha |
| Kirinyaga | 10,089 ha |
| Nyeri | 9,841 ha |
| Murang’a | 9,413 ha |
| Meru | 8,708 ha |
| Machakos | 8,013 ha |
| Bungoma | 7,725 ha |
| Embu | 6,881 ha |
| Kericho | 4,842 ha |
| Kisii | 4,579 ha |
Source: Ministry of Agriculture, via Business Daily.
The map is shifting west. In the 2025/26 auctions Kericho sold the most coffee, 6 million kg, nearly double its total of the season before, overtaking Kirinyaga, and Nandi ranked sixth; the central Kenya belt’s share of auction volumes fell from 62% to 51%, The Star reports. Around Nairobi, Thika, Kiambu and Nyeri, many farms near towns were uprooted for housing over the past decade, USDA says, a trend that has slowed only as the property market stalled.
The coffee
Kenya grows arabica only, and its classic cup is a model of brightness: in Coffee Review’s tastings, top Kenyas show black currant, pink grapefruit, hibiscus and dark chocolate, with “brilliant, juicy acidity” and a full, satiny mouthfeel. Coffee Review credits Kenya’s loyalty to its traditional varieties and traditional wet processing and drying. The varieties:
| Variety | Origin | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SL28 | Selected 1935 at Scott Agricultural Laboratories from a drought-tolerant Tanganyikan population | Bourbon-related; trees 60–80 years old still produce |
| SL34 | Selected in the late 1930s from a tree on Loresho Estate, Kabete | Suited to high, wet areas; genetically related to Typica |
| Ruiru 11 | Released 1985 at Ruiru, after coffee berry disease destroyed half the crop in 1968 | Compact, resistant to coffee berry disease and tolerant of leaf rust |
| Batian | Released 2010 | Tall, resistant to coffee berry disease and tolerant of leaf rust, with good cup quality |
Source: World Coffee Research.
When is coffee harvested in Kenya?
Twice a year. The main crop runs from about late October to December or early January, and a smaller early or fly crop from about April to June, according to growers quoted by Bloomberg and the Daily Nation. The trees need a dry spell to flower; in Nyeri they flower in about January and February, and the long rains of March set the berries. Exports peak between April and July, USDA says.
Who grows Kenyan coffee?
Smallholders, mostly. About 80% of Kenyan coffee is sold through producer cooperatives, the rest by estates, USDA says, and Wikipedia puts the number of coffee farmers at about 150,000 (2012). The country is expanding coffee again through the New Kenya Planters Co-operative Union, which gives farmers seedlings and fertiliser from a government revolving fund, and in March 2026 a new Coffee Act revived the Coffee Board of Kenya and an independent Coffee Research and Training Institute.
Where does Kenyan coffee go?
| Destination | Tonnes, 2024/25 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 9,737 | 17.2% |
| Belgium | 8,763 | 15.5% |
| Germany | 7,173 | 12.7% |
| Netherlands | 2,937 | 5.2% |
| France | 2,826 | 5.0% |
| South Korea | 2,817 | 5.0% |
Source: Trade Data Monitor, via USDA.
The European Union has historically taken more than half of Kenya’s coffee, USDA says. More than 95% of sales go through the Nairobi Coffee Exchange, where prices averaged US$375 a 50 kg bag in October 2025 and US$269 by April 2026.
A short history
- 1893: French Spiritan missionaries plant Bourbon seed from Réunion at Bura, in the Taita Hills; in 1899 seedlings go to their mission at St Austin, near Nairobi, World Coffee Research says. Another account says the British introduced coffee growing about 1900.
- 1933: a Coffee Act creates the Coffee Board of Kenya.
- 1935: the Nairobi Coffee Exchange opens; SL28 is selected.
- 1950s: the Swynnerton Plan creates family holdings that combine food crops with cash crops.
- 1968: coffee berry disease destroys half the crop.
- 1985: Ruiru 11 is released.
- 1988: output peaks at 128,637 tonnes.
- 2010: Batian is released.
- 2026: a new Coffee Act revives the Coffee Board.
How do Kenyans drink their coffee?
Kenya drinks only about 62,000 bags a year, USDA says. On the Swahili coast, the old way is kahawa chungu, bitter spiced coffee poured from brass kettles; in Nairobi, the café boom has lost momentum as aid agencies have left and prices have risen.
Kenyan coffee and other origins
- Coffee in Tanzania: the neighbour where SL28’s parent trees were found.
- Coffee in Ethiopia: where arabica began.
- The atlas: Kenya’s growing areas on the map.