Mamuto AB

Mamuto (whose name means 'father, mother, and children') grows beneath the slopes of the usually overcast seventeen thousand-plus foot Mt. Kenya, looming above to the north. The soil is deep red-orange in a lush green very gently undulating landscape. Walter Paul Mathagu was an agricultural officer serving the government of Kenya for seventeen years before retiring in 1987. During that entire time Mrs. Mathagu managed the farm. Taking inspiration from their family, Mr. Mathagu explained to me, he and his wife named the farm by combining the first two letters from three words: his name, Mathagu, as the father; Muthoni, his wife’s maiden name, as mother; and toto, meaning child or children in Swahili: thus Mamuto. Mr. and Mrs. Mathagu have six children - three boys, three girls. Their son, Patrick Mathagu, is now taking on the mantle of running this great farm. All the coffee is processed at the farm right through drying. After drying, the coffee remains in parchment approximately six weeks “resting” in protected, aerated bins before being transported for final milling and packaging. Besides coffee the Mathagus maintain a herd of dairy cattle and grow bananas, maize, beans and macadamia on their 21 acre farm. We continue to buy Mamuto’s entire AA and now their AB crop.