Coffee earnings jump 7.4% in 2015/16

Kenya earned 18.8 billion shillings ($184.68 million) from coffee exports in the 2015/16 (Oct-Sept) crop year, up 7.4 percent from the previous year, regulator Coffee Directorate said on Friday.

The earnings fell short of the government’s target of 20 billion shillings, but they were within the annual average of 18 billion shillings over the past 10 years.

Kenya is a small coffee producer, accounting for just 1 percent of the world’s annual crop, but roasters require these quality Arabica beans to blend them with coffee from other regions. Coffee is one of Kenya’s main foreign exchange earners.

Production is expected to rise to 47,000 metric tonnes this crop year from 45,000 tonnes in the year ended September.