Kenyan Government plans to “revitalise the coffee sector”

According to reports that are doing the rounds, a new, ambitious plan has been laid out by the Kenyan government.

A senior official, speaking earlier this week, has stated that there is a movement to see the African country produce double the amount of coffee it does now, increasing output from 50,000 tonnes per annum to 100,000.

Felix Koskei, the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, told the gathered Kenyan media that this lofty total could be reached, but more land would have to be made available to farmers. These same farmers, he said, should also be given accesses to the latest high yielding varieties of coffee plants.

“We want to revitalise the [Kenyan] coffee sector so that it returns to production levels of the 1980s,” he proclaimed.

During the Kenya’s heyday, as much as 130,000 tonnes were known to have been exported in a solitary year.

His words were evidently well received and carefully planned: Nairobi is currently hosting the 12th African Fine Coffee Conference and Exhibition, a prominent event that attracts some very important and influential names in the world of coffee.

Internal statistics reveal that, roughly, 110,000 hectares of land is currently used to cultivate coffee.

Koskei, a graduate from the University of Nairobi, noted that $55 million has been set aside – from the commodities fund – to give farmers, producers and suppliers access to low-credit loans in a bit to advance then entire industry.

Also, the East African nation has also begun to roll out the implementation of the Integrated Coffee Productive Program (ICPP). The ICPP encourages coffee farmers to “double up” on their available land by growing other crops alongside coffee as well as providing modern husbandry training.

“This will ensure farmers diversify their revenues so that they [are] cushioned when the price of coffee is low.”

Source