Coffee production drive targets threefold increase by 2029

The government has stepped up efforts to revive the country’s coffee sector, setting a target of increasing annual production from 50,000 metric tonnes to 150,000 metric tonnes by the 2029 financial year.

Government officials, county representatives and agricultural stakeholders met in Kisumu on Tuesday to discuss how to increase coffee production and encourage more farmers in the Nyanza region to take up the crop.

The meeting brought together national government officers, representatives from six counties, the newly reconstituted Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (KPCU) and the national steering committee on coffee revitalisation.

Nyanza Regional Commissioner Onesmus Kyatha said the programme, led by the Ministry of Cooperatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, aims to increase farmers’ incomes by encouraging crop diversification.

“Coffee is one of the crops the government has prioritised because of its value. Once our farmers diversify their crops, they will be able to earn more income,” he said.

The officials said the forum focused on coordinating awareness campaigns and supporting farmers interested in joining coffee cooperatives.

Kyatha said there had been strong interest from farmers across the region, prompting the government to speed up farmer registration and the formation of cooperatives.

The Managing Director of the New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union, Timothy Mirugi, said the production target was announced by President William Ruto during the launch of the coffee revitalisation programme in Kirinyaga three weeks ago.

He said the government expected increased planting in both traditional coffee-growing areas and regions that have not previously produced the crop on a large scale.

Mirugi said several measures had been introduced to encourage coffee farming, including reducing the price of fertiliser from Sh7,000 to Sh2,500 per bag and making coffee-specific fertiliser available through KPCU outlets.

He added that more than 2.6 million coffee seedlings from the Coffee Research Institute were distributed during the last financial year, with additional funding allocated for seedling distribution this year.

The government is also encouraging coffee cultivation in Kisumu, Migori, Kisii and Nyamira counties, while asking farmers in established coffee-growing areas to replace ageing coffee bushes with new varieties to improve yields.

Mirugi said young people had been trained as coffee agronomy champions to provide extension services to farmers.

He added that three-wheeled vehicles introduced under the programme would help young entrepreneurs sell locally processed coffee in towns, universities and tourist destinations in an effort to increase domestic consumption.

The meeting in Kisumu forms part of the government’s wider strategy to increase agricultural production and strengthen the coffee sector.