New law to ensure prompt payment to coffee farmers in Nyeri, says Gachagua

Coffee millers and marketers interested in coffee from Nyeri will be required to have bank guarantees in order to get access to the county’s cash crop.

Nyeri Governor Nderitu Gachagua has said this will ensure that by the end of July every year, coffee farmers will have received their dues and then millers and marketers can be left selling the coffee.

“Once we pass this law in the county assembly, any miller and marketer interested in our coffee will have to follow the law to access to our produce,” said Governor Gachagua.

The decision follows a meeting between farmers and the county government held in September that called for key reforms targeting the milling and marketing of coffee in order to safeguard farmers’ interests.

BETTER RETURNS

Speaking at Wamagana trading centre in Tetu Sub-County during the launch of distribution of free maize and bean seeds to farmers, Mr Gachagua said the conditions are meant to help the small-scale farmer make better returns on time.

“We have been having this problem of late payment to coffee farmers for a long time now,” he said.

The proposed law also sets the ceiling on deductions that coffee societies can make from farmers.

Besides the county’s joint milling and marketing initiative, which pooled about 106 coffee factories in 2014, several independent millers and marketers still have a sizeable share of the coffee market in the county.

Under the Coffee Act 2001, growers are required to appoint a marketing agent with whom they sign a contract for a minimum period of one year to market their coffee.

MILLERS

Millers are appointed and contracted by farmers to classify the coffee by bean size, to mill and grade it according to cup quality, and dispatch it to the marketer in readiness for auction to roasters and blenders.

Millers set their own fees but the cost can, however, be considerably higher than indicated depending on other services that may be provided such as drying and colour sorting.

In 2015, the highest paid factory has received Sh85 per kilo of cherry compared to Sh80 per kilo recorded in 2014.

The governor said 28,000 bags of fertiliser are ready for collection by coffee farmers.

“This is the subsidised fertiliser where a coffee farmer is able to access fertiliser at Sh1,500 instead of Sh2,400.

“This is one of the reasons why the production has been very good,” said Mr Gachagua.

He said as a county government they are encouraging farmers to take advantage of this programme.