The government has pumped Sh. 6.7 billion into the Coffee Cherry Advance Revolving Fund to scale up production of the crop in the Country.
Through the fund, farmers will access an advance of Sh. 80 per kilogram of coffee delivered to the factory to help revive coffee farming.
Cooperatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development Cabinet Secretary (CS) Simon Chelugui said the money that is already in the New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (KPCU) account was a deliberate effort by the government to regenerate interest in the crop which was at some point the country’s top foreign exchange earner.
The advance payment, which has increased from Sh. 20 to Sh. 80, he added targets to woo more farmers back into the sector with prices of the commodity set to increase.
The government, he said has put in place stringent measures to guarantee a market for Kenyan coffee and at the same time weed out middlemen and brokers to fleece farmers.
So far, he said 14 unions owned by farmers have been licensed by the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) to buy coffee from farmers.
This, he said was set to enhance competition and ensure that farmers fetch good prices for their produce.
“For the first time since independence a farmer who is not happy with the price being offered by the union can withdraw his coffee and wait until the price improves,” he said.
Speaking during a farmers’ sensitization meeting at Nandi Coffee Cooperative Union Mill in Tinderet Sub County, the CS asked farmers to go back to coffee farming adding that the reforms being undertaken in the sector guaranteed them good returns.
Speaking during the same occasion, Nandi County Governor Stephen Sang challenged farmers to target high yields per tree to benefit from the improved prices.
“We must focus on scaling up production tree by tree not just the acreage to reap maximum benefits,” he said.
By Valarie Kosuri
