By Zablon Oyugi and Wairimu Gikenye

Caleb Odondi Omollo returned to Rongo after 35 years in the US to create the only coffee farm for miles, surrounded by sugar cane. Its ideal height cut off from coffee pests, has demonstrated that location is now the country’s top driver of yields, with Caleb unaffected by the voutry’s worst coffee pests 

Coffee Berry Borer (CBB) is now destroying up to 80% of coffee yields across Kenyan farms, while Coffee Berry Disease (CBD) is causing widespread fungal damage in the wetter highlands, but location is key to their success.

Caleb grows his organic coffee in Rongo, Migori County, where his farm sits at about 1,400 metres above sea level, a sweet spot agronomists refer to as a transition zone; it is not high enough to encourage fungal outbreaks like CBD, common in colder, wetter zones like Mt. Elgon and Nyeri, but also not low enough for CBB, which thrives in warmer, humid environments below 1,200 metres.

“This is where I was born, and it turns out the climate here is warm, not too wet, and just right for coffee,” said Caleb. “Not once have I experienced or had CBD or CBB here.”

But his isolation has also been a key factor in protecting him, with scientists confirming that CBB is climbing by 300 metres a year in East Africa due to warming on climate change.

“When I returned home in 2008 after 35 years, I was shocked,” he said. “Before I left, coffee was everywhere. But when I came back, it was all sugarcane.”  As a result, his coffee farm is surrounded by farms without any neighbouring coffee growers

This has isolated him from CBB, which spreads from farm to farm through short-range flights of about 400 metres, water splash, wind, contaminated tools, and human traffic. 

For the pests that Caleb’s farm is still exposed to, he  has created a food forest system that provides shade over the coffee, keeping it cooler and reducing its vulnerability to other, general coffee pests.

“I designed the farm with seven layers,” he said. “Avocado trees tower above, coffee forms the canopy, then there are fruits, vegetables, herbs, and ground cover plants like pumpkin.” The result is a mini-ecosystem where predators like birds and snakes control many of the pests naturally. “The trees breathe, the soil breathes, and that balance keeps diseases away,” he said. “The birds help manage pests like nematodes.”

Instead of applying synthetic inputs, he instead  relies on organic solutions. “We don’t apply any synthetic fertiliser or pesticide here.”

The result is a farm that’s resilient and profitable, gaining from consumers’ preferences for organic coffee. With no brokers involved, buyers come directly to him, paying over Shr40,000 a bag for Caleb’s AA-grade coffee and around Sh7,000 for his lowest-grade beans.

With a background in environmental ecology and training in regenerative agriculture from the United States, Caleb has made it his mission to share the model with others. “When I came back, I saw the land was tired. So I started teaching people about forest gardens and regenerative farming.” 

Caleb has just begun expanding his farm to Kisii and Homa Bay counties, leads a local network of organic coffee growers, and partners with institutions like Equity Bank to train other farmers.

For more information on Caleb’s food forest system, see his video by clicking here

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