Farmers in Nyeri’s Tetu constituency are a happy lot after they were paid Sh 121 per kilo of coffee – the highest ever amount.
Thiriku Coffee Society paid members the highest amount in Mt Kenya region at sh121 per kilo – setting a new record and to bring hope to the long suffering farmers.
A farmer, Gikandi Nderitu said he and fellow farmers are happy with rate payout and promised to work harder in the farms.
He said the good fortune is almost unbelievable and thanked the government for dismantling the cartels that had made coffee farming akin to slavery.
The coffee reforms pushed by President Uhuru and implemented by CS Agriculture Peter Munya have suddenly revived the coffee industry taking it to unprecedented levels.
The record of the highest paid farmers was previously held by in Kibirigwi Coffee farmers in Kirinyaga County who had paid Sh 118 per kilo.
Other factories that have enjoyed high prices are in Mathira constituency in Nyeri County.
Before the reforms, farmers had all but abandoned coffee farming due to the low prices offered with the highest being Sh 60 per kilo.
After the reforms the prices have tripled in some instance creating renewed interest in farming and improving the economic situations of the long suffering farmers.
The good results have also been achieved because farmers are now able to sell their coffee directly to the buyers oversees bypassing the Nairobi Coffee Exchange.
