Reprieve for small coffee dealers as auction resumes
Coffee Board of Kenya CEO Loise Njeru explains a point to Agriculture secretary Felix Koskei when he toured the Nairobi Coffee Exchange on Wednesday. Photo/Diana Ngila
What you need to know:
The auction traded for the first time on Thursday under a transitional exchange committee appointed by Agriculture secretary Felix Koskei three weeks ago to replace the Coffee Producers and Traders Association (KCPTA).
Mr. Koskei said the auction would be made more transparent and farmers compensated for all test samples delivered.
Coffee farmers have been agitating for the review of auction regulations that require them to deposit 14 kilogrammes sample. They want the amount reduced to 10 kilogrammes.
The coffee auction will be opened to small dealers in new measures aimed at increasing output and streamlining the supply chain from the farm to the market.
Agriculture secretary Felix Koskei said the auction would be made more transparent and farmers compensated for all test samples delivered.
“We have adopted an open trade system where farmers also get paid for every batch deposited for testing,” he said on Wednesday after touring the Nairobi Coffee Exchange’s (NCE) trading floor.
The auction traded for the first time on Thursday under a transitional exchange committee appointed by Mr Koskei three weeks ago to replace the Coffee Producers and Traders Association (KCPTA).
The committee was given three months to run the auction after which an independent team will be elected.
Coffee farmers have been agitating for the review of auction regulations that require them to deposit 14 kilogrammes sample. They want the amount reduced to 10 kilogrammes.
Mr Koskei suspended the weekly auction run by KCPTA last month after the Coffee Board of Kenya raised an alarm over the loss Sh50 billion from the sale of beans deposited as test samples.
The ministry officials believe the industry cartels have been colluding to rake in millions of shillings by selling the free samples in the same market.
“Giving farmers the deserved return is a top priority in reviving the coffee industry,” said agriculture PS Sicily Kariuki.
The coffee industry has experienced a decline as farmers opted for other land use in key production areas such as Kiambu where the crop is being replaced with real estate.
Annual coffee production has dropped from peak of 130,000 tonnes in late 1980s to 30,000 tonnes in 2011. Coffee Board projects production of 45 tonnes for the 2012/13 crop period.
On Thursday, ministry officials said they would lobby coffee producing counties to improve production. Kiambu county is already planning to zone its land so that human settlement does not encroach on coffee growing areas.
“We are thinking of every official step including partnering with investors for value addition in order to retain coffee which has been our agricultural heritage of 50 years,” said Kiambu deputy governor Gerald Githinji.
Small dealers, however, still face hurdles in accessing the market.
