Talking about a producing country is one of roasters’ daily activities. You don’t need to have visited an origin to introduce it to consumers. The cultural gap between roasters and producers can be so wide that even if you have you are not guaranteed to represent the country well. As we become more aware of issues with representation and the legacy of colonialism in coffee, reading about the history and culture of your suppliers can help you grasp a country's context, improve your relationship and help you stand out from the crowd.
Best reads by Kenyan authors
Understand the country's coffee sector beyond the industry's bubble
"I feel that the colonial history of coffee hasn’t been tackled yet”, Vava starts. To understand “why the Kenyan coffee industry is the way that is it today”, she invites you to explore some of the best books and essays by Kenyan authors she herself curated - including one of which she wrote. “This is a list that takes you way back to colonial times and brings you to current days combining fiction, poetry and realism. If you want to understand Kenya today you’ll find some of the reasons why things are how they are here.”
How to Write About Africa, by Binyavanga Wainaina
If you are out of time, this is where you should start. “This is one of my favourite texts. It’s very satirical. It talks about all things people get wrong when they write about Africa. It’s also hilarious! As it is an essay, it is quite a quick read”, says Vava. Wainaina is fearless and shameless, pointing the finger at all the cliches and stereotypes writers use to describe the continent.
From a practical angle, it highlights what you should avoid. “The continent is full of deserts, jungles, highlands, savannahs and many other things, but your reader doesn’t care about all that, so keep your descriptions romantic and evocative and unparticular”, he writes.
From a practical angle, it highlights what you should avoid. “The continent is full of deserts, jungles, highlands, savannahs and many other things, but your reader doesn’t care about all that, so keep your descriptions romantic and evocative and unparticular”, he writes.
Decolonising the Mind, by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
The full name of the book, a collection of essays first published in 1986, is “Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature”. Ngũgĩ writes about how the English language became a carrier of the British culture during the colonial period and a symbol of elitedom.
The author discusses the development of Kenyan literature throughout time and the adoption of European languages by Kenyan writers. “I like his approach to pre-colonial and colonial Kenya. He talks about the hard stuff. He was imprisoned for one of his books and he is not afraid to speak”, boasts Vava.
The author discusses the development of Kenyan literature throughout time and the adoption of European languages by Kenyan writers. “I like his approach to pre-colonial and colonial Kenya. He talks about the hard stuff. He was imprisoned for one of his books and he is not afraid to speak”, boasts Vava.
Coffee Milk Blood, by Vava Angwenyi
Released in 2021, this book couldn't be left out of the selection. It is the only book about coffee on the list and it can be described as a collection of quotes and essays about Kenya, its colonial inheritance, issues of representation in the coffee industry and the role of the African woman in the midst of it all. It centres around the theme of empowerment, a word used by many buyers to describe the impact of their work in producing countries.
In Vava's words, "this is both a visual and narrative story of the perception of an empowered woman in this setting, the community I work in and the Neocolonialism notions that exist in this industry as well as the colonial structures that still exist in this sector."
In Vava's words, "this is both a visual and narrative story of the perception of an empowered woman in this setting, the community I work in and the Neocolonialism notions that exist in this industry as well as the colonial structures that still exist in this sector."
"This work delves into the definition of Empowerment from the communities we seek to “empower”, storytelling from the point of view of the producers themselves and what the narrative should be as you buy their beans or as you interact with them in their communities.
We look to portray the images of an African coffee producer, African women and its surroundings in a more dignified, real manner as opposed to that of a pitiful struggling environment. Ours is a place of opportunity and promise for both youth, women and entrepreneurs who dare to dream and try. We look to trade with the western world in more beneficial and profitable relationships."
Land Without Thunder, by Grace Ogot
Published in 1968, the book centres around the author's experience as a nurse and the conflict between traditional and Western medicine. The collection of short stories was digitalised in 2011 and can be found online. Born in the Nyanza region, Ogot was the first woman to be published by the East African Publishing House. She is widely read in Kenya. “The story is set on the Western side of Kenya. You can travel to this part of the country by reading the book. It is also by a female writer who I remember reading when I was at school”, Vava explains.
The Dance of the Jakaranda, Peter Kimani
Kimani is an award-winning Kenyan novelist. This book was published in 2018 but the story takes place in the 1960s, during Kenyan independence, and bounces back and forth to the end of the 19th century, when the railway from Lake Victoria to Mombasa was built. It talks about the settlement that would become the town of Nakuru in the Rift Valley region. According to Vava, “this is about a region that is up and coming in coffee, an area where we have been discovering lots of great coffees recently. It’s just amazing. It’s also a fictional book about post-colonial Kenya”.
Other titles to explore with a cup of coffee...
You can deepen your understanding of Kenya by reading a number of other books such as “Facing Mount Kenya” by anti-colonial activist and former Kenyan Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta. “It reflects on the auction system in a country that is so corrupt and political. It helps to start getting a feel of the Kenyan landscape”, suggests Vava. “Not Yet Uhuru”, the autobiography of Oginga Odinga also delves into politics. An important figure in Kenya's independence, he became Kenya's first vice-president, and later an opposition leader. “This book shows why certain regions are more developed than others. It’s about both tribalism and politics”, says Vava.
Vava also recommends the online journal for fiction and poetry Down River Road; the novel "Dust" by Yvonne Owour, set in the streets of Nairobi; "A grain of wheat", a novel by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o focused on Kenya’s struggle for independence; the fiction "Three Days on the Cross", by journalist Wahome Mutahi about a despotic regime; and "The Promised Land" by Grace Ogot, touching upon tribalism and the figure of the ideal African wife. Other titles include "Tracking the Scent of my Mother" by Muthoni Garland, the "Cockroach Dance" by Meja Mwangi, the "River and the Source" by Margaret Ogola and "Unbowed" by Wangari Maathai.
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