Coffee prices have been a huge jump in recent days delivering hopes to farmers that the much-touted coffee reforms started making real impact.
Reports from the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) show that Kii Factory, owned and operated by Rungeto Farmers Cooperative Society (FCS) in Kirinyaga County got an offer of USD 533 per 50kg bag for 47 bags of AA which translated to Sh10.66 USD.
It means that at the exchange rate of Ksh157/USD the farmers earned Sh 1,673.62 per kilo of coffee which is a big jump in price and promises a good coffee year. These impressive results were realized during the Tuesday auction at the NCE.
During the same sale, the coffee presented by the New KPCU fetched an average of USD213.26 with the highest hitting USD 398 and the lowest USD94.
The news comes only weeks after the government through the New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (New KPCU) launched a countrywide sensitization of the Coffee Cherry Advance Revolving Fund (CCARF) where farmers have been guaranteed a minimum of Sh 80kg per kilo from a low of Sh 20kg.
The New KPCU has already disbursed Sh 2,954billion to 221,382 farmers countrywide with Nyeri and Kirinyaga counties absorbing the bulk of the money at close to Sh 1billion.
The Managing Director of New KPCU Timothy Mirugi says the impact of the CCARF is being felt and is waiting for the next disbursement to benefit even more farmers.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has been at the forefront of leading the coffee reforms and has initiated several measures to revive productivity in the sector.
