Kenya coffee brand to hit market soon, says Ruto

The development of Kenya coffee brand is on course, a minister has said.

When in place, the brand will open a third window after auction and direct marketing to enable farmers receive better returns for their produce.

“In the next three years, we expect to have turned around the coffee sector,” said Agriculture minister William Ruto.

He said the coffee sector will be restructured further to cope better in a liberalised market adding that the Coffee Bill 2008 was ready for debate in Parliament.

Sorted out

“We should have issues contained in the Bill sorted out in the next session,” he said.

The minister said among the issues will be the enhancement of funding of the sector for research and development, marketing structure and resolution of governance problems.

The minister, at the same time, announced that Mr Jeremy Block had been replaced as a member of the Coffee Board of Kenya.

The move is widely believed to be as a result of agitation by coffee stakeholders who claim Mr Block’s inclusion causes conflict of interest as he is also a player in the industry.

More reforms

Mr Ruto who was inaugurating the boards of directors of Coffee Development Fund and Coffee Research Foundation on Monday, said the coffee sector needed more reforms to reflect the changing market environment.

“The government expects to up-scale the promotion of coffee because of the international competition. We cannot rely on conventional methods of marketing coffee,” said the minister.