The government will spend Sh2 billion to import coffee pulping machines for use by farmers through cooperative societies, Cooperatives CS Wycliffe Oparanya has said.
He said they are in talks with suppliers from Brazil to provide the machines within the next two months through the New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (KPCU).
Oparanya said the government is keen to have more farmers venture into coffee farming, which is profitable.
He said initially Kenya had been leading in coffee production in Africa but it had been overtaken and is now in position five in production on the continent.
“That is why the government has made a deliberate programme to ensure we support our farmers produce more. President William Ruto wants our farmers to increase production from the current 50,000 tonnes to more than 150,000 tonnes annually in the next few years,” Oparanya said.
The CS said the President had instructed that the sector be given a boost of Sh500 million to help increase production.
“We are insisting that coffee is gold and our farmers must benefit from it,” Oparanya said.
The CS spoke in Eldoret during a meeting with coffee farmers. He was with Uasin Gishu Deputy Governor Evans Kapkea.
He said the target is for farmers to produce at least 10kgs per coffee bush up from the current average of six kilogrammes per bush per year.
The CS said he will visit all the 33 counties that produce coffee to sensitise farmers on how to increase production.
He said they had agreed with five universities to work with the Coffee Research Institute to produce more than 20 million seedlings for the sector every year.
He said the ministry will immediately provide 200,000 seedlings for farmers in Uasin Gishu.
The farmers, he said, will also benefit from subsidised fertiliser. He, however, urged farmers to use more organic fertilisers and avoid harmful chemicals.
“We will also ensure we have a properly structured system to develop coffee production just like for other crops,” Oparanya said.
The structure will most be through cooperatives and Oparanya said they will be keen on helping youth and women to be involved in coffee production.
He said there is a ministry initiative to support 70 youth in every ward to engage in business, including coffee production.
Through the plan, the government would train more than one million youth and issue them with common-use equipment to support their activities.
The CS said the government is also keen to put in place a strong legal framework for the coffee sector so farmers can work through strong movements.
Oparanya said the government has also increased funding to the Cherry Fund to more than Sh10 billion to support the sector.
He said farmers require milling machines that will also be provided through cooperatives and the New KPCU.
On marketing of coffee, he said KPCU has been empowered to market the produce worldwide through the Coffee Board and farmers will only be supported to produce more.
”We already have wide markets that we can’t satisfy currently and our focus should be to produce more,” the CS said.
BY MATHEWS NDANYI
