Brewing dreams on the streets of Kisumu

In Kisumu City, as travellers hurry through matatu stages in the early morning and late evening, the smell of hot street coffee fills the air. For many, it is a quick, affordable drink to warm the body and start the day. But for the young men selling it, each cup is more than coffee; it is a livelihood in the course of making ends meet.

Street coffee, fondly known as Kahawa is a popular fast drink in Kenya. It is usually sold in disposable cups for as little as Sh10. It has become an inseparable part of urban life, especially in the mornings and evenings when the air is cold. Vendors often add spices like ginger (tangawizi) or lemon (ndimu) to enhance the flavor, giving it a sharp, warming taste that keeps customers coming back.

In cities like Kisumu, street Kahawa has evolved beyond being just a drink; it is an industry of survival. For commuters, it is warmth and energy. For the young men and women who sell it, Kahawa is the difference between going hungry and making ends meet.

Kenya, as a country, is renowned worldwide for producing some of the best coffee beans. Yet ironically, the country consumes far less coffee than it produces.

According to the Eastern Africa Fine Coffees Association (EAFCA), Kenya exports about 95 per cent of its coffee, leaving only 5 per cent for local consumption. That small percentage has, however, created an underground coffee culture in towns, driven not by upmarket cafés but by young hawkers who sell Kahawa on the streets at dawn and dusk.

The hawkers, usually armed with 10-litreS thermoS flasks of coffee and plastic buckets of snacks, take advantage of a market segment that sees formal coffee shops as too expensive.

With as little as Sh10, anyone can enjoy a hot cup, whether they are office workers catching a matatu, boda boda riders ending their shifts, or casual laborers who skipped breakfast.

Hawking remains one of Kenya’s largest informal economic activities.

From fast food and fruits to stationery and clothes, hawking has offered a safety net for many unemployed youths.

This requires aggressiveness, resilience, and the ability to withstand harsh working conditions, from long hours to harassment by county officials. For a group of three Burundian youths living in Kisumu, hawking Kahawa has become both a source of livelihood and dignity.

Felixis Ntirandekura, Vianney Irankeje, and Bruce Ishimwe left their native country in search of greener pastures. Poverty and unemployment had forced them out of their homeland, but life in Kenya was far from easy. With little education and no formal opportunities, they had to embrace any work available. What started as just a survival has now become their full-time livelihood.

Making profits

 “I came to Kenya some years ago with my brother. I started selling coffee in Kisumu County in 2021 after a close friend introduced me to the business," Felixis Ntirandekura,29, opens up as he pours steaming coffee into a disposable cup.

His day begins as early as 4 a.m. “That’s when I prepare the dough for mandazi and other snacks,” he explains. “After frying them, I brew coffee, adding ginger or lemon to give it flavor. By 6 a.m., I am already in the streets. Most people in Kisumu leave home early without breakfast, so they rely on us.”

Felixis sells snacks made from two kilograms of flour daily, priced between Sh10 and Sh20, while each cup of Kahawa goes for Sh10. On a good morning, he makes a profit of between Sh200 and Sh300, and the same in the evening. “This business has changed my life,” he says. “I can now pay rent, buy food, and handle basic needs. Many people look down on this work, but I say no job should be discredited as long as it pays, it has value.”

Still, challenges remain. “When it rains, we get many customers, but when it’s hot, demand drops sharply. Waking up early is also exhausting, but I push myself. Some days business is slow, but I always tell myself, it’s better to earn something small than nothing at all.”

For Vianney Irankeje, he came to Kenya from Burundi in 2024 and settled in Kisumu after a friend facilitated his movement here. "I was running away from poverty in Burundi. At first, I wasn’t comfortable hawking Kahawa. I believed, like many in my community, that selling food was women’s work. But eventually I adapted, and today this is what sustains me,” he said.

Vianney’s day starts at 5 a.m. He brews his coffee, fills his flask, and heads to the streets. “I sell Kahawa at Ksh10 per cup and snacks between Sh10 and Sh20 depending on size,” he says. “One thermos container gives me about 40 cups of coffee. On a good day, I can make between Sh150 and Sh200 in the morning and the same in the evening.”

While the business has improved his life compared to Burundi, he admits it has its struggles. “Street children are the biggest challenge. They ask for coffee and snacks but refuse to pay. Sometimes, when you demand money, they become violent. For my safety, I give in. It drains the business, but I don’t have much choice.”

Even so, Vianney remains optimistic. “This business helps me pay rent and buy food. It may not be glamorous, but it gives me dignity. My advice to young people is to start small you never know how big it can grow.”

Bruce Ishimwe, 24, also left Burundi seeking opportunities in Kenya. “I came with hopes of finding a better job, but nothing worked out,” he recalls. “My brother introduced me to coffee hawking. At first, I thought it was a waste of time, but over time I learned how to do it. Today, I consider myself a master at it.”

Bruce brews 10 litres of coffee, often flavored with ginger or lemon. He also prepares about 90 pieces of snacks daily from two kilograms of flour. Selling between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., then again from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., he earns between Sh400 and Sh500 a day. “This business has transformed my life,” he says. “Back in Burundi, I lived in poverty, but now I can sustain myself.”

Every year, over 800,000 young people join the Kenyan job market, but opportunities remain scarce. According to the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE), youth aged between 15 and 34, who make upto 35 per cent of the population, face an unemployment rate of 67 percent.

The crisis is even worse in Kisumu County, where a 2023 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) report placed youth unemployment at 38 per cent, nearly double the national average of 22 per cent. Globally, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) recorded over 65 million unemployed youth in 2023, warning that the number could double by 2045 if there are no urgent interventions.

For many young people, hawking has become the only option. ILO estimates that hawking constitutes between 40 and 80 per cent of informal work in Nairobi alone. It provides income to those left behind by formal employment, offering a “low-hanging fruit” for survival in an economy that fails to create enough jobs.

In Burundi, where the three coffee vendors came from, poverty remains deeply entrenched. A 2021 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report revealed that 75.1 per cent of Burundians live in poverty, lacking access to food, healthcare, and decent living conditions.

Burundi, alongside South Sudan, is often ranked among the poorest nations in Africa, struggling with political instability, underdeveloped infrastructure, and food insecurity.

The hawking business is not without its dangers. Across Kenyan cities, vendors are often harassed by county government officials, their goods confiscated, or forced to pay bribes. In Nairobi, for instance, county authorities have accused tea and coffee hawkers of improper waste disposal and using banned single-use plastics.

In Kisumu, Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o ordered a ban on street vending in 2023, relocating traders to the Uhuru Business Park. Still, many traders, including coffee vendors, continue to operate in the streets where the customers are.

Despite the challenges, the three Burundian youths see Kahawa hawking not just as a job but as hope. Each cup sold is a step away from poverty, each flask emptied is absolute proof of resilience to them. They ran their country due to poverty.