Coffee firm’s takeover by rival gets Treasury go-ahead

Disease outbreak

Meanwhile heavy rains currently hitting most coffee growing areas has triggered fresh fears of possible outbreaks of diseases such as the Coffee Berry Disease (CBD).

The disease thrives under cold and wet conditions with farmers spraying their crops with fungicides just before the onset of the traditional long-rains.

The rains, however, seemed to have caught many by surprise, leaving them reeling under fears of diseases that in the 2007/08 crop season cut the country’s coffee production by about 23 per cent to 42,000 tonnes.