Coffee farmers reject Kenyatta’s move to form task force to eliminate cartels

Nine coffee societies drawn from Mathira area in Nyeri County have rejected President Uhuru Kenyatta’s move to form a task force to look into the crisis facing the coffee sector.

The societies argue that a task force would not solve their problems because this was not the first time such action was being taken.

The societies’ representatives claim that task forces end up being part of the cartels of middlemen who steal from farmers.

This comes barely two weeks after President Uhuru Kenyatta formed a task force to investigate the troubles facing farmers in the coffee sector and advise on how best to eliminate cartels.

In a Gazette Notice, the 19-member task force will be chaired by Prof. Joseph Kieyah and assisted by Agriculture Principal Secretary Richard Lesiyampe.

The team is required to conduct consultations with coffee stakeholders in the country and undertake literature review to learn best practices that can benefit the local coffee industry whose farmers have complained of losing hundreds of millions to middle-men and other cartels exporting the commodity.

The President gave the task force until March 24th to compile a report in line with its terms of reference.