By Patricia Mollyne Mataga
Coffee farmers across the country have a reason to smile. This is after the government announced a raft of measures asked at reviving the sector.
On Tuesday, the cabinet resolved to among others write-off a historical debt amounting to Ksh6.8 billion owed by cofee farmers nationally.
“To facilitate the settlement of the debts accrued by farmers, coffee cooperatives, Sacco’s and others creditors are required to submit to the Ministry of Cooperatives, within seven days, the list of all farmers who owe them money,” read a cabinet dispatch.
The farmers organizations are also expected to provide supporting documents for verification and processing of payment.However, the Cabinet warned that any fraudulent and fictitious claims will be dealt with in accordance with the law.
In addition, the Cabinet called on Parliament to fast-track the enactment of governance reforms for co-operatives to establish institutional safeguards, including the requirement that the process of borrowing by co-operatives is only authorised by farmers during an Annual General Meeting (AGM).
To further bolster the coffee production value chain, the cabinet approved modernisation of the New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (KPCU).
The process will be in accordance with international best practices.
“Additionally, to address the concerns on the quality of coffee parchments, modem eco-pulpers will be established in all emerging coffee growing areas for primary processing, enhancing efficiency and sustainability of the subsector,” read the Cabinet dispatch posted on the State House verified social media pages.
“These interventions which will further encampas improved coffee seedlings propagation under the Coffee Research Institute (CRI) are aimed at enhancing the production of coffee to the 200,000 metric tonnes target by 2027,” it added.
The cabinet expressed optimism that the interventions will reposition Kenya’s coffee on the global stage and enhance competitiveness and contribution to the national development agenda.
Coffee, the Cabinet notes, is one of the nation’s premier exports.