5 Nov 2009 --- The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) and Starbucks Coffee Company have inaugurated a Coffee-Quality Laboratory on the campus of Kimathi University College of Technology (KUCT), located near Nyeri in the Central Highlands of Kenya. The lab provides local coffee farmers the opportunity to sample and taste the coffee they have grown, and learn more about what is involved in growing quality coffee for the global marketplace.
 
“Until now most local farmers lacked access to tasting and roasting facilities, an important tool in refining growing practices,” said Chris von Zastrow, director of agronomy at Starbucks Farmer Support Center based in Rwanda. “By evaluating the coffee aroma and flavor profile of their beans, farmers can glean information about their planting and harvesting techniques and continually introduce quality improvements.”

The Coffee-Quality Lab is the most recent outcome of the Kenya Heartland Coffee Project, a partnership between AWF and Starbucks. Launched in 2005 in this traditional coffee-growing region, the joint project trains local farmers to grow coffee utilizing Starbucks ethical sourcing guidelines (i.e., Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices, or C.A.F.E. Practices), an independently verified system designed to ensure high-quality coffee is grown and processed in a socially and environmentally responsible way.

Recognizing the need to protect the natural resources that support good growing practices and conserve habitat for the region’s world-renowned wildlife, the Kenya Heartland Coffee Project also supports reforestation and other activities designed to safeguard the ecological integrity of the region.

“This alliance underscores AWF’s belief that with careful planning and the right partners such as Starbucks and KUCT, landscapes in Africa can be strengthened from an economic as well as a conservation perspective,” said AWF CEO Patrick Bergin.

In addition to opening the Coffee-Quality Lab and training thousands of farmers in C.A.F.E. Practices, AWF, along with Starbucks support, has upgraded local coffee factories to improve efficiency and reduce water usage, stewarded the planting of more than 10,000 trees to restore forest cover and protect watersheds, and created a state-of-the-art dam to conserve water resources and benefit local people.