In the lush, volcanic highlands of Komothai in Kenya’s Rift Valley, farmers like Simon Macharia produce coffee on small plantations scattered across the hillsides.

Along with other farmers, Mr Macharia brings sacks of his bright red coffee cherries to the local processing plant, where they are weighed and treated.

A machine removes the red husks, and the pale beans inside are washed and passed along concrete channels, ending up on lines of drying platforms that sweep across the valley.

Here, workers categorise the beans into grades, the highest destined for the coffee houses of Europe.

“We call coffee the black gold around here,” Mr Macharia, whose farm covers 2.5 hectares (six acres) , told the BBC.

He grows the Kenya AA coffee beans, which are prized worldwide for their high quality, full body, deep aromas and fruity flavour.