New KPCU launches Strategic Plan, coffee magazine to boost farmers’ awareness
The New Kenya Planters Co-operative Union (New KPCU) has unveiled its 2023-2027 Strategic Plan, alongside the launch of a Coffee Special Magazine Edition in collaboration with Smart Farmer Africa, aiming to enhance farmers’ knowledge of the coffee sector and increase their earnings from Ksh70 to not less than Ksh135 per kilo of cherry.
The event, which also marked five years of New KPCU’s impactful journey, brought together in Nairobi hundreds of farmers from coffee unions and co-operatives across more than 30 coffee-growing counties. It provided a platform for sector stakeholders to outline the industry’s general outlook for the coming years.
According to Wycliffe Ambetsa Oparanya, the Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Co-operatives and MSMEs, the coffee sector still plays a critical role in the country’s economy as it acts as a foreign exchange earner and a vital source of livelihood for over 800,000 farmers and many households.
“Coffee remains one of Kenya’s leading foreign exchange earners and a lifeline for many rural households,” said Oparanya on Wednesday, November 13, during the launch, adding that the past year has seen remarkable growth and resilience in the coffee sector.
Data from the Coffee Yearbook 2022/23 shows that in the financial year 2022-2023, coffee exports increased from 42,858 tonnes to 47,957 tonnes.
“This growth highlights the unwavering demand for Kenyan coffee on the global stage, with the total export value reaching $252.12 million (Sh32.5 billion),” said the CS.
However, the sector still faces many challenges such as erratic weather and the natural cyclical nature of coffee production, which has recently caused production to decline by six percent to 0.81 million bags.
Known for quality coffee
According to Daniel K Kiprotich Chemno, the chairperson of the New KPCU board of directors, Kenya is still known for quality coffee in the world, and the union is ready to take the country back to its top ranks in coffee production.
“We are celebrating our coffee and we are also committed to grow the legacy and reclaim our position among the top 10 coffee producers in the world,” said Chemno.
He said the older generation (60 years on average) comprises the majority of coffee farmers, hence the plan to woo more youth into the sector through tailor-made programmes and strategies.
The chairperson also advocated to increase production of Robusta coffee, especially in western Kenya where the variety was widely grown in yester years.
“There is a need to empower the Coffee Research Institute (CRI) to develop Robusta coffee for our many farmers in western region,” said Chemno.
In the strategic plan
While highlighting some of the main issues in the Strategic Plan, Mr Timothy Mirugi, the New KPCU Managing Director, said the union would continue offering training and advisory services to farmers through established demo farms and other forums.
“We want to partner with farmer groups such as unions and co-operatives to improve our efficiency in getting the right information to farmers and in distributing coffee inputs,” said Mirugi.
Currently, over 415,000 farmers across the country have benefited from Ksh5.8 billion of the Coffee Cherry Fund, thanks to government support.
According to the MD, due to improvements in production, New KPCU is working hard to expand and modernise its facilities to handle the volumes effectively.
“Today, we have 946,000sq warehouse capacity; we are modernising our Sagana facility and upgrading the New KPCU lab that will see us improve our service delivery to farmers and buyers.”
Other key issues in the Strategic Plan include building the capacity of 250 wet mills across coffee growing counties and increasing the tonnage of coffee milled from 3,025 tonnes in 202/23 to 30,000 tonnes by 2027.
New KPCU is also looking at upgrading its 24 warehouses to the required world standards and increase the national average coffee production per bush from 2kg to 10kg by 2027.
Special magazine edition
Speaking during the event, Ms Bernadette Murgor, the CEO of Smart Farmer Africa, said the special coffee magazine is very resourceful for the sector which is currently going through remarkable transformation.
“This is a great achievement and we are grateful to the New KPCU for the partnership that has enabled the production of this exciting edition that is going to impact the coffee sector deeply,” said Bernadette.
She said the edition is informative, exciting, in-depth, educative and inspiring, and has been worked on passionately after visiting farmers and engaging experts in the sector.
“We would like to see this publication go far and wide, thus we request for more support from all the stakeholders so that the copies can reach the hands of as many farmers as possible,” she said.