As a young man, Nyaga Kamwea received a 5-acre piece of land through a community program and soon after began planting coffee on it. By the time he graduated from high school, he had planted over 1,000 trees. He named the farm Kamwea in honor of his father, Kamwea M'Nginyi, as a way to preserve his legacy.
Although Nyaga trained and worked as a teacher, his connection to the farm remained strong. After starting his teaching career, he invested both his salary and the income from coffee sales to expand the estate. Today, Kamwea Estate has grown to over 6,500 trees, featuring SL-28, Ruiru 11, and Batian coffee varieties. The farm is still managed by Nyaga, now alongside his wife, Phides Muthoni Nyaga, and their son, Paul Kamwea, who acts as the farm's managing director. The Kamweas are also members of Kushikamana, an inspiring group of small estate owners around Mt. Kenya who test and share new techniques to improve the quality of their coffee.
