June 22nd 2026.
When I came back from Kenya last May, I found it difficult to summarize the experience in a few words.
I’ve learned SO MUCH and I hope I can pass some of it to you. Here’s the short version but if you want to know more, I´ll be writing some blog posts in the coming weeks.
Before this trip, I had some information about the women behind DONA Kenya 7 Voices. I knew their names, the location and the size of their farms.
But, spending time with some of the growers, walking through their garden, picking cherries together, and sharing conversations gave me something very different: a genuine understanding of their daily reality and how coffee sits at the heart of a fragile but vital rural economy.
But even more valuable, it gave me the real connection with DONA coffee’s purpose. These women are wonderful, full of life, generous, happy, smart and hard workers. Paying fairly for their coffee, gives them a decent life and a better future for their families.
Here some highlights and I purposely not using any names to keep their privacy.
Many of these coffee farms do not look like farms at all. They look more like homes surrounded by lush gardens that resemble small forests. The coffee trees are part of a diversified garden that also includes bananas, avocados, passion fruit, tree tomatoes, vegetables, dairy cows, chickens, and other sources of food and income. Everything grows together in a beautiful ecosystem, giving shade to each other.
Most of the women I met have around 100 coffee trees. During the harvest season, which lasts about two months as the cherries gradually ripen, these trees produce a surprisingly small amount of coffee cherries, about 10 kg. in a good year. The overall income generated is around CHF700 per year. Since these are family-run operations, no salaries are paid. It quickly becomes clear that coffee alone cannot sustain a household. They have to complement their income by selling the other products from their land, such as milk, eggs, chickens, maize, fruits and vegetables. Yet coffee remains an incredibly important source of income that helps keep the land and generate revenue to pay school fees, healthcare, home improvements and creates opportunities for the next generation.
Coffee is also a vital part of Kenya’s economy, and you can see this in the number of people involved before coffee finally reaches the cup. We often think of coffee as the work of a farmer, but in reality, it is the result of an entire community. From caring for the trees, to selectively picking ripe cherries, to sorting, processing, drying, transporting, grading, and preparing the coffee for export, there are countless hands that contribute to making the beans in every cup.
I was also inspired by the different organizations and people working alongside coffee farmers to create lasting impact. Collaboration is key. It is not only about paying women fairly, but also about building long-term partnerships that strengthen their autonomy, skills, and voice within the coffee value chain. But this will be another episode.
I came back humbled and more determined than ever to continue building connections between the people who produce coffee and those who drink it. Every purchase has the power to support real people, families and communities.
I have so much more to share from this incredible experience, and I look forward to taking you along on that journey through upcoming DONA blog posts. I wish you could have come with me!
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