Coffee sector poised for major reforms

Coffee farmers have been guaranteed payment for their produce on delivery to factories as part of new measures to revive the ailing coffee sector.

The recommendation is contained in the report presented to President Uhuru Kenyatta by the Presidential National Task Force on Coffee Sub-Sector Reforms.

According to the proposal, farmers will be paid at least 40 percent of the prevailing price on the spot for cherry they deliver. Depending on the market prices, the minimum advance payments farmer will be get for a kilo of cherry will be Sh15.

The once thriving coffee sector has been hit by a myriad of challenges and has since lost its lustre. From the existence of cartel-like middlemen and poor prices, coffee farmers have been left disillusioned by the poor prices opting to plant other crops or sell land to real estate developers. .

The report also proposes a subsidy programme to cater for smallholder and small estate coffee farmers. The subsidy will be offered as a package including fertiliser, planting materials for new varieties, capacity building and training farmers and rehabilitation of at least 500 coffee pulping stations.

During the presentation of the 2016/17 budget, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich announced the government had scrapped all levies on coffee. The government also allocated Sh1.2 billion to clear all outstanding debt owed by coffee societies.

“We are keen to see coffee come back and that will be through restoring the trust of farmers in coffee,” President Uhuru Kenyatta said when he received the report.

If fully implemented, the Nairobi Coffee Exchange could also be incorporated into a public limited company, opening ups its operations. Farmers and coffee societies have for years complained that the exchange was shrouded in mystery, benefiting a select few.

By Noah Kuto