State assures coffee farmers of Ksh.80 per kilo in new sector reforms

Chelugui said the government has embarked on serious reforms of the coffee sector including the Coffee Cherry Advance Fund, re-establishment of the Coffee Board of Kenya and licensing of 14 unions to represent coffee farmers.

Speaking during the event in Kangundo, Machakos County, Chelugui assured farmers that they begin receiving Ksh. 80 per for a kilo of coffee cherry, through the new fund. 

"We are paying Ksh.40 on arrival at the factory and a further Ksh.40 on arrival at the mill and this is not a loan. Payment is guaranteed one month after harvesting,” the Co-operatives CS told farmers, assuring them of waivers on existing loans.

Chelugui added that when the price changes, farmers will get a bonus.

Farmers will also be free to decide whether to be paid in dollars or in shillings through the Direct Sales Settlement so as to avoid being duped by brokers, the CS said.

Machakos County Governor Wavinya Ndeti appealed for a debt waiver of Ksh.603 million owed to coffee cooperative societies in the county.

Governor Ndeti, who hosted the Cabinet Secretary, said the debt was small compared to what the national government had waived to farmers in other regions.

The governor also asked the national government to reconsider plans to tax coffee farmers adding that farmers were already burdened with high costs of inputs.