Liz's story
For as long as she can remember, coffee has been at the centre of Elizabeth Mutisya's life. Growing up in the small village of Kikambuani in central Kenya, Liz (as her friends call her), along with her 8 brothers and sisters, often had to set school aside to help their father with the harvest on his small scale coffee farm, while their mother washed clothes and sold fruit to help make ends meet. Still, Liz saw her father struggle to pay school fees, and the family was unable to afford to send her to the more advanced school she qualified for with her consistently good grades.
This was a familiar story in the village. Small scale coffee farmers, lacking resources and education, often fell prey to corruption and cartels within the cooperatives they rely for processing, milling and marketing. They end up earning only a fraction of what their product is worth, remaining stuck in poverty while producing the world's second most traded commodity. The effects of this poverty trickle down to the whole community: children drop out of school, families go without food and essentials, vulnerable girls face abuse and early pregnancy. Despite the struggles faced by the farmers in Kenya, Liz, now 25, has remained passionate about coffee.
After completing her secondary studies, she started working as a waitress in a coffee shop. It was there she met the winner of Africa's first Barista Championships, who encouraged her to pursue her passion and train as a barista herself. Soon enough, Liz moved up from waitress to barista. But still, she had bigger dreams. Liz wanted to change the fixed ideas about the coffee business in Kenya, and, in her words, “give hope, especially to girls who grow up in coffee farms.” She wanted to provide a strong voice to the vulnerable families affected by the poverty so rife in coffee growing communities. The best way to do this, she decided, was to start her own coffee farm: one that empowers the workers with fair wages and a safe environment; one that could be an example of a positive way forward for the coffee industry in her country.
Liz took a job on a coffee farm to learn the in and outs of coffee production in a different community, gathering more knowledge and experience to help make her dream a reality. It was here that she met two young Austrian entrepreneurs, Damian and Julian. She shared her story and dream for the future with them. Inspired by her courage, drive, and passion, they decided to find a way to help her dream come true. The result is Project Fahari, an organization dedicated to helping develop small businesses with positive social impact, focusing on female entrepreneurs.
