Mt. Kenya Coffee Farmers Seek Direct Access to Buyers

The Kenya Kwanza government is being urged by coffee growers in the Mt. Kenya region to eliminate the Nairobi coffee exchange and permit farmers to do business directly with consumers in order to expand the market for their product.

Farmers at the Ndaroini coffee mill in Mathira remarked at a farmers’ field day that the so-called reforms won’t work until they are permitted to sell directly to customers around the world who want specialty coffee.

“The so-called reforms currently being initiated are of no consequences to coffee farming, what our Deputy president and MPs from coffee growing areas need to address is the marketing of the crop, currently they are only eight brokers in Nairobi auction who collude and set up prices, when will the farmers earn from their sweat?” wondered Joseph Mukua chairman of the factory.

According to Mukua, farmers will continue to be exploited and coffee production will worsen unless they are permitted to sell directly to purchasers.

“At the moment our MPs should not be crying over the poor prices in the auction what they should be doing now is to come up with a law allowing farmers freedom of marketing their products through direct sales this is the way to go,” said Mukua.

The official claimed that colonial rule, which forbade farmers from selling their harvest directly except through the auction, has thus far limited the number of purchasers who are in need of specialty coffees.

No one is permitted to sell clean coffee other than through the Nairobi Coffee Exchange, which, according to farmers, presently offers subpar pricing of between USD300 and USD350 for 50 kg of clean coffee. This is in accordance with the laws governing the sale of coffee.

Farmers’ claims come at a time when there is worry about low remuneration this year compared to previous years when they received Sh100 or more for each kilo of cherries delivered.

President William Ruto appointed his deputy Rigathi Gachagua to oversee reforms in both coffee and tea and ensure farmers are paid well.