Nature-Based Enterprises · Agroforestry · Community Livelihoods

Kenono Coffee

Kenono’s flagship agroforestry initiative is shade-grown Indigenous Arabica that keeps the forest standing and provides livelihoods for the families who farm it.

  • 200+
    Coffee farmers in the network
  • 4t
    Coffee produced since 2023
  • 14
    Supplying villages
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Why coffee

For Kenono, coffee represents the link between nature-based rural enterprises that strengthen local economies and the ecological restoration and community stewardship of forest landscapes.

Kenono promotes biodiversity-positive coffee value chains through aggregation, procurement, processing support, market linkage development, and farmer mobilization among Indigenous smallholder communities practicing shade-grown agroforestry systems.

Climatic suitability

The optimal agro-climatic zone for premium, shade-grown Arabica.

Coffee cultivation in Nagaland has expanded rapidly over the last two decades, primarily under initiatives promoted by the Government of Nagaland and the Coffee Board of India. The state possesses ideal conditions for Arabica: rich biodiversity, low chemical usage, and indigenous forest landscapes.

Elevation

900 to 1,600 metres. Cool temperatures and high annual rainfall create the perfect environment for slow-maturing Arabica.

Ecosystem

100% rain-fed, low-input, shade-grown within pristine indigenous forest landscapes.

Scale

Over 11,000 hectares currently cultivated state-wide, with 10 lakh hectares of future expansion potential.

Tseminyu District hub

3.87 lakh coffee plants cultivated by 200+ farmers across Sendenyu, Kithagha, Kasha Daho, and Kandinu villages.

The problem

Benefits and profit-share leave the communities that grow the coffee.

Most Nagaland coffee is sold as raw cherry and leaves the state before any value is added. The profit centres, curing, roasting, grading, and branding, all sit outside Nagaland, and the origin is lost in commercial blends.

Nagaland

Harvest

Farmer harvests mixed cherries and sells them raw.

Nagaland

Aggregation

Local aggregator collects the raw crop.

Value leaks across state lines
Assam

Curing

External curers take the first margin.

Karnataka

Processing

Roasting, grading, and branding happen here.

Retail

Diluted origin

Sold as a commercial blend with no Nagaland identity.

Farmer share of profit in the traditional coffee value chain remains low.

Selling fresh cherry at the farm gate returns a fraction of what the same coffee fetches once it is roasted and branded elsewhere.

Farmer sells fresh cherryFarm gate
INR 70 to 100 / kg
Roasted coffeeRetail, outside the state
INR 800 to 1,800 / kg
The vision

A closed-loop, community-owned coffee value chain.

Kenono Foundation, with the Zunpha Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd., aims to establish an integrated community-driven coffee processing and specialty coffee ecosystem that retains the benefits within the local communities who farm it, uplifting indigenous farmers, protecting forest landscapes, and positioning Nagaland’s coffee within premium specialty markets.

04 · Market linkage

Direct supply to specialty buyers

Export-ready branding and direct sales to specialty roasters, so the margin returns to the cooperative and its farmers.

03 · Refinement

In-house roasting, packaging, and sensory cupping

Roasted, packed, and cupped under the Kenono Coffee label.

01 02 03 04 Kenono Coffee
01 · Procurement

Community-owned, quality-based cherry aggregation

Procurement at village level, quality-based, with traceability back to the farmer who grew it.

02 · Processing

Washed, honey, and natural methods at origin

Pulping, fermentation, washing, and drying done at Zunpha, so the first and largest value step stays in the district.

Cherry to cup

Every step, kept in the district.

Ripe red Arabica cherries on the branchCoffee cherries growing in Kithagha village
Step 1

Selective harvest

Farmers are trained to pick ripe cherry only, the first decision that separates specialty from commercial grade.

Sacks of coffee loaded on the NABARD Mobile Mart pickupKenono’s Mobile Mart collecting coffee from farmers
Step 2

Aggregation

Cherry is collected at village level and moved to Zunpha in the cooperative’s Mobile Mart, with batch records for traceability.

Sorting cherry on a mesh trayTraining on sorting and grading
Step 3

Sorting

Floaters, unripe, and damaged cherry are pulled before processing.

A hand-cranked pulper with freshly pulped beansSmall-scale pulping machines to ensure quality
Step 4

Pulping and fermentation

Washed, honey, and natural processes are all in use, giving the roaster a range of profiles from one landscape.

Parchment coffee drying on tarpaulin in the sunCoffee beans drying in the sun
Step 5

Drying

Parchment is dried to target moisture; raised beds and covered drying are the next investment for monsoon months.

Hands holding green coffee beans over a sackSifting through green beans
Step 6

Hulling and grading

Green beans are graded and moisture-tested before sale or roasting.

A trainer grinding coffee at a cupping tableTraining farmers on cupping and quality checks
Step 7

Cupping and quality

Every lot is cupped so that feedback reaches the farmer who grew it.

Three kraft bags of Kenono CoffeeKenono Coffee, packaged in-house and sold at retail
Step 8

Roasting and packaging

Roasted and packed at Zunpha under the Kenono Coffee label. From our hills, to your cup.

Capacity-building

Kenono works with local farmers to ensure high-quality output.

Visiting roasters and trainers work with farmer groups in the villages: harvesting, pulping, fermentation, drying, and cupping, demonstrated on the farm, not in a classroom.

  • Farmer groups in Sendenyu (Kebenstin Agri-Allied Society), Sishunu, and other villages host processing trainings.
  • Cupping tables bring the taste of each lot back to the people who grew it.
  • Exposure visits connect Tseminyu growers to specialty roasters and international coffee friends.
A trainer examining cherry with a farmer in a shade-grown coffee plotIn the farm
A trainer demonstrating a pulper to seated farmersPulping demonstration
Farmers and visitors examining green and roasted beans at a cupping tableCupping and grading
A farmer holding up fruiting coffee branches in her shade-grown farm Three farmers with crates of freshly picked coffee cherry
From the community

The growers.

More than 200 farmers across Sendenyu, Kithagha, Kasha Daho, Kandinu, and neighbouring villages tend Arabica under their own forest canopy. Most farms are young, rain-fed, and largely organic by practice.

From the community

The harvest.

Since 2023 the network has produced about four tons of Arabica from 14 villages, with nearly 50 farmers paid directly by the cooperative rather than through traders.

Field notes

From the coffee villages.

Growers, harvests, and farm walks across Tseminyu District.

Three farmers with crates of freshly picked coffee cherry01Harvest day
A farmer holding up fruiting coffee branches in her shade-grown farm02A grower and her trees
Cupped hands holding washed coffee cherries over a bucket03Washed cherry
A farmer walking through a young shade-grown coffee plot, seen from above04Walking the farm
Hands lifting freshly washed coffee cherries from a bucket of water
Partner with us

Help Nagaland coffee thrive.

Kenono is looking for venture partners and buyers of our retail product to support our processing infrastructure, roasting, and cupping expertise, and specialty market linkages. Or simply drink the coffee.

Write to us