Implement the task force report, coffee farmers tell govt

A group of Small Scale coffee farmers drawn from the counties of Embu, Meru, Makueni and Machakos have called for the withdrawal of court cases stopping the implementation of the coffee task force report.

Addressing the media in Embu Town, the group wondered how their counterparts went to court to stop the implementation of the report – which they said had a raft of proposals that would boost coffee farming if implemented.

Zablon Mbabu, a farmer from Meru, said the government should implement the report, calling on the Council of Governors and other groups opposed to it to support farmers.

“If the coffee cartels don’t have a hand in this then I think farmers don’t understand the content of this report, we are therefore calling on the Ministry of Agriculture to educate our people in the villages so that they can understand it,’’ said Mbabu.

Patrick Nzuva from Kangundo in Machakos County sees nothing wrong with the recommendations proposed in the task force report.

“The task force was formed to look into the problems affecting the sector and it’s only by implementing the recommendations that we will start to see the fruits,” Nzuva stated as he backed the task force report.

The implementation of the 19-member task force report hit a snag when a coffee farmer moved to court and blocked its recommendations arguing that they were not reflective of the coffee farmers’ views.