Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Wycliffe Ambetsa Oparanya has expressed the government’s commitment to introducing coffee farming in more regions across the country to revive Kenya’s coffee sector, pledging billions in funding and reforms.
He noted that the government was focusing on not only reviving but also introducing it in new counties that have been declared favourable to grow coffee.
The CS spoke at Kinamba Trading Centre in Laikipia County during a sensitization meeting on the revival of coffee production, where he was accompanied by the Laikipia Governor Joshua Irungu, the New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union Managing Director Timothy Mirugi and a host of other leaders.
Oparanya noted that this is a three-year programme meant to revive the once-thriving subsector, noting that when the country’s coffee production went down, Kenya was being overtaken by countries such as Ethiopia, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire and Tanzania.
Oparanya noted that with the emerging technologies, there is room to increase production and farmers were poised to reap big, especially in new areas introducing the crop.
“The government has set aside over Sh500 million to promote the crop through coffee seedling provision to smallholder farmers in an effort to boost national coffee production, and I can confidently promise you that the market demand is huge and the country cannot sustain it unless proper interventions are made,” said Oparanya.
He also assured farmers of the government’s backing in tackling longstanding debts that have crippled the industry. However, CS noted, only genuine debts will be settled by the state.
He also urged farmers to take advantage of the Cherry Fund, which currently stands at Sh8 billion, to help them expand their farming.
By Antony Mwangi
