• The digital machines will ensure farmers get the right measurements of their produce.
• New fermentation tanks will also help preserve coffee taste.
Image: Alice Waithera
The government will digitise coffee factories under the Sh7 billion revitalisation project that is to run for three years.
Old and poorly maintained processing machines run by factories or cooperative societies will be replaced with modern ones in a move to further rejuvenate the sector.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya on Monday told farmers in Kandara town that the digital machines will enable them to rightly measure the weight of their produce.
He said that for a long time, crafty factory officials have been taking advantage of the faulty machines to swindle unsuspecting farmers by reducing the kilos of coffee sold. This, in turn, reduces the income received by farmers.
He said frustrations easily creep in as farmers find it difficult to continue toiling on their farms, only to get low returns.
The government will now instal new pulpers that can pulp about five tonnes of coffee in an hour. Old and dilapidated fermentation tanks will also be renovated to preserve the taste of local coffee.
The government has also introduced the e-voucher system that aims at providing over 1.4 million high-needs households with a wide range of subsidised farm input.
The system being implemented under the National Value Chain Support Programme is one of the efforts the government is putting in place to make the country food-secure. Coffee and maize are some of the crops covered.
Farmers acquire vouchers from their county governments to buy input from the nearest agro-dealers who then claim their payments from the national government.
At least 2,300 agro-dealers will be involved in the programme that will boost the quality and quantity of commodities. Munya has been touring the Central region sensitising farmers to the coffee bill that is set to restore order in the sector.
For decades, farmers have complained about poor payments. In some cooperative societies, persistent coffee thefts have left farmers reeling from missed pay.
Munya appealed to factories to employ youthful security guards, pointing out that many prefer to hire cheap, elderly ones.
“You cannot have coffee worth millions and then employ an 80-year-old guard,” he said.
The Coffee Bill, 2020, will compel mills to make all disclosures necessary to enable farmers to make informed choices. The information will include milling costs, handling and storage charges and milling losses as a percentage of the coffee delivered.
It also caps milling costs at 18 per cent in the absence of a compelling case made in writing and ratified by members of a factory.
Every resolution made by members of a factory regarding milling will be filed with the Coffee Board and copied to the county government and the Commissioner for Cooperatives in 14 days.
The bill also requires every milling contract itemised. It also calls for full disclosures of all the expenses associated with processing, which will not in any case exceed Sh4,000 per tonne.
Milling will be done in the presence of a factory manager and a statement that includes a sample of 200g of each grade of the milled coffee filed.
Companies that engage in anti-competitive conduct such as margin squeezing, market sharing, transfer pricing, abuse of dominance and preferential contracts at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange will have their licences suspended for a term not exceeding six months.
Edited by F'Orieny