By Kimuri Mwangi
At just 27 years old, John Kamau is redefining what youth participation in agriculture can look like and not from the sidelines, but from the very heart of Kenya’s coffee value chain. With a deep understanding that spans from farm practices to final packaging, Kamau is emerging as a powerful force in coffee value addition, a segment still largely unexplored by many young people in the country.
Kamau’s story begins in the heart of Kenya’s coffee estates. “My father worked in the coffee value chain in various coffee estates. I was born in Kakuzi Coffee Estate, where I started interacting with coffee at a very young age,” he says. His formative years were spent across three major coffee estates, Kakuzi, Wangu Estate, and Mutaro Estate in Juja, where coffee was not just a crop but a way of life.
“I think my father played a big role in me venturing into the coffee industry,” Kamau explains. “From him, I got the interest to know more about coffee. I remember even getting to ask him very weird questions at a very young age, because I was interested in knowing more about coffee.”
His curiosity was met with practical lessons from his father, who taught him about different processing methods, wet, dry, and natural, and the potential of by-products such as coffee husks, which can be used to make disposable cups or as manure.
This early exposure led Kamau to pursue a degree in Agribusiness at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). “After finishing my agribusiness course, I told my father that I felt that my passion is more inclined towards coffee and sought his advice on whether I could venture into it.” With his father’s blessings, Kamau sought further training, starting as a barista and gradually moving into roasting.
His journey took him overseas to Kuwait, where he worked as a barista and gained hands-on experience in coffee preparation and roasting. “When working as a barista, since I had a foundation course in roasting, I was also trying to do part-time roasting in other cafes,” he says.
Returning to Kenya, Kamau enrolled in the EU-EAC MARKUP II program, implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC) in partnership with the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). He trained in both foundation and intermediate roasting techniques and became a certified SCA Coffee Roaster.
“As I was doing the roasting course, I came to think more about the farmer. The farmer can sell his or her coffee in cherry form, but the value when it is value-added is very different. So, I tried to interlink the gap between the farmer and the final product.”
This realization birthed Jungle Harvest Coffee Roasters, Kamau’s coffee venture. Through the enterprise, he offers value-added services to farmers, many of whom have never tasted the coffee they grow. “We can do value addition for farmers and also assist farmers who have never tried drinking their coffee and have been farming for a very long time,” he says.
Jungle Harvest Coffee sources green beans from youth- and women-led groups, part of Kamau’s broader mission to empower marginalized demographics. “I also came to realize that not only the youth who need support in coffee like the ones I buy from in Othaya, but also women. So, I also buy coffee from women as a way of empowering them and boosting them.”
The company offers a full service, from sourcing green beans to roasting and packaging finished coffee products. However, the journey hasn’t been without hurdles. “We outsource machinery, which has been a challenge. You have to set a date and time. But other than that, we also had challenges with the certification,” Kamau says, noting that support and advice from various stakeholders eventually helped them overcome the hurdles. Jungle Harvest Coffee has since secured a roasting licence from the county government.
His innovative model recently earned him recognition in the UNIDO Innovation Challenge, a global competition focused on sustainability in coffee. “I decided to give it a try. With God’s grace, we managed to get it. I’m very humbled to have been a winner among the three challenges,” Kamau says.
Looking ahead, Kamau aims to boost domestic coffee consumption, which remains low in Kenya, and to raise awareness that coffee is “not just a beverage, but a skill in terms of preparation and roasting.” He also dreams of owning key machinery from roasters to grinders and fillers, to scale operations and reduce dependency on outsourced services.
His message to fellow youth is one of encouragement and determination: “You can start small and grow big. You can be a farmer, be in value addition or even marketing. There’s always a position where you can fit into the coffee industry, and it’s best if you follow your passion.”
In a sector often dominated by older generations and faced with the challenge of youth disengagement, John Kamau is not just making coffee; he’s making a statement.
