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closest relationships in Nyeri—Gaturiri and Gatomboya—through the Barichu Farmers Cooperative Society. Barichu represents about 1,200 smallholders, 80 of whom are dedicated growers who work directly with our export partner, Dormans. Richard Ngatia Kanyoge is the director of Barichu and a farm owner within the Gaturiri group. Richard gave me a full-day tour of both Gatomboya and Gaturiru and eventually brought me to his plot to see his trees. "The trees are smiling…you can see that these trees are smiling," he told me, emphatically gesturing to a number of trees as we surveyed his farm. "These are all SL-28," something that he knows most buyers are excited to hear versus the small amount of Ruiri 11 that have made their mark in other regions in Kenya. He's right about smiling trees: Much of what I can see are wellcared-for plants that have been pruned and properly fertilized with a combination of cow manure, cherry pulp, and other nitrogen rich materials that are broken down and eventually applied to each tree. This is something very commonly done on organic farms. Kenya has suffered in the past from CBD (coffee berry disease), which is a pervasive fungus much like the fungus known as coffeeleaf rust that has crippled much of the Latin American coffee world as of late. Kenya has CBD under control, but this year the volume will be down by half in Nyeri and other areas. This is in part to it being a down year in the cycle of up-and-down production common in coffee yield throughout the world. Some estimates show areas in Kenya down as much as 50 percent less than 2012/13. The year looks leaner, but we can only hope the lots will represent excellent quality to make up for the low production. My big question while here was what exactly is a 'Kenya-style process?' I set out to get further clarity the next day while visiting Tekangu, a cooperative farmers' union that represents some 3,100 smallholders in the same Nyeri district as Barichu. It represents three Kenya has suffered in the past from coffee berry disease (CBD), which is a pervasive fungus much like the fungus known as coffee-leaf rust that has crippled much of the Latin American coffee world as of late. Kenya has CBD under control, but this year the volume will be down by half in Nyeri and other areas. www.baristamagazine.com 43