Government to Revive Coffee Processing and Marketing to Benefit Farmers

Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto over the weekend confirmed that the state is working towards ensuring that coffee processing is revived and the product sold as a value-added item, a move that is set the benefit coffee farmers across the various counties.

Speaking in Mukurweini, DP Ruto said that the government is done with the first phase of the project and has progressed to the next, where after successful implementation, traders will not buy the product in raw form but as a finished product.

According to the deputy president, the move is in a bid to close the massive trade benefit between the country and the West. He likened the case to the sell of vehicles where most of them arrive in the country fully assembled claiming that most of our products should be sold after packaging.

Coffee farmers have, for decades, contended with the idea of selling raw coffee, which means they don’t earn the premium profits associated with selling the finished product.

The decision by the government to settle the 3 billion shillings owed by cooperatives in 2013 proved counterproductive. According to DP Ruto, the value addition is bound to amend the situation and ensure good returns in the business.

“The debts that coffee cooperative is a hindrance for the improvement of the sector and the government has realized that it isn’t sufficient, hence the decision to sell coffee after it has been processed. We have set aside 1 billion shillings to bring the sector back to life through the provision of right husbandry to farmers,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nyeri senator Ephraim Maina claims that the reason the sector is performing poorly is as a result of the splitting of the coffee cooperatives into smaller units that aren’t able to sustain themselves or even settle debts owed to farmers.

Mr. Maina suggested that if the government is to stop the craze of uprooting coffee plantations due to unprofitability, these small units should be done away with and one large body is put in place for better returns.

The milling program in Sagana implemented by Nyeri county in 2014 as a hub for milling and marketing of coffee was met with controversies where others claimed that the program will lead to farmers losing track of the produce.

Sadly, with more than 20 societies embracing the move, the critics were rendered silent. Farmers claimed that they had been exploited for long and a change was all they needed.