A coffee farmer in Nyeri. Coffee exports grew to Sh2.2 billion between July and October from Sh2 billion same period last year. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
Exports grew to Sh2.2 billion in the period under review from Sh2 billion in the corresponding period in 2014.
Kenya exports more than 90 per cent of the locally produced coffee, mainly used by roasters in blending.
The price of coffee is expected to gain further in the coming days following the harvesting of the main crop from central Kenya.
The value of Kenya coffee exports rose marginally between July and October compared to the same period last year even as the volume of the commodity dropped by three per cent.
Latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) indicate the exports grew to Sh2.2 billion in the period under review from Sh2 billion in the corresponding period in 2014.
The KNBS report says the volumes dropped from 16,298 tonnes between July and October last year to 15,732 the same time in 2014.
The good prices were attributable to the strong dollar that favoured exports for the whole of last year, as the Kenya shilling weakened by about 13 per cent against the greenback.
Kenya exports more than 90 per cent of the locally produced coffee, mainly used by roasters in blending.
The price of coffee is expected to gain further in the coming days following the harvesting of the main crop from central Kenya.
Increased volume
The new coffee has so far increased the price of the cash crop by 23 per cent according to the latest market report from the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE). “We are now having increased volume of good quality coffee, which has been significant in raising the price at the auction,” says NCE chief executive Daniel Mbithi.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Authority, the farming regulator, expects production to increase and the price of coffee to remain high in the coming months.
“Our outlook for this year indicate that the prices will remain high and the production will grow compared to last year,” said AFFA director-general Alfred Busolo.
Coffee remains a major foreign exchange earner for Kenya but its production has been dropping over the years and faces uncertain future.
A research conducted by the University of Witwatersrand recently indicated that climate change could adversely affect the premium Arabica coffee in East Africa in the coming years.
The study shows that temperature changes negatively affected the production of Arabica coffee in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
In Kenya this type of coffee is grown in the Mt Kenya and Rift Valley regions such as Kiambu, Murang’a, Kirinyaga, Kericho, Nakuru and Kisii.
The sensitive Arabica coffee berries need low temperatures to grow well and produce high quality crop, which is why they are best suited for the cool tropical highlands of East Africa.
The study verifies for the first time that increasing night temperature is the main reason for diminishing Arabica coffee yields between 1961 and 2012.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
