Kenyan coffee entrepreneur a BBC World Challenge finalist
Vava Angwenyi is a lady with much to celebrate – amongst other things, she has just become a finalist in the BBC World Challenge and is the only Kenyan in the international competition. Why has she achieved this position? Angwenyi has launched a Kenyan coffee business and has had much success with her premium brands.
But that is not the end of the story: she is also seeking to change the lives of single slum-dwelling women and street children in the process.
Angwenyi returned to Kenya after studying her Masters degree in Canada and Holland, with a plan to make the most of Kenyan coffee when trading at auction. Her idea was to sell high-end, well-packaged coffee and also reveal the background process involving farmers and packagers to carve a niche.
And the plan worked. Angwenyi has helped the farmers, many of whom are single women and also women who live in the Kibera slums plus the ex-street children in Ongata Rongai. This group of recruits were trained in farming and also packaging the beans in handcrafted bags. On each bag, the company’s strapline – Every bean has a story – is borne out with information about the farmer behind the blend.
There is also a plan in place to recycle the profits of the business in a responsible way. Ten percent of income is used towards the education and training of children. In addition, the coffee company gives support to farming methods, equipment and training