Murang'a coffee factories get Sh80m to digitize operations

Murang’a County government has issued Sh80 million to help coffee factories digitize their facilities.

The funds that were issued to seven coffee co-operative societies will enable factories to buy digital weighing scales that send notifications to farmers’ mobile phones once their coffee is weighed.

The cooperative societies include Ruchu, Kaganda, Kangiri, Thanga-ini, Kanguno, Kamacharia and Karurumo.

The funds are also aimed at helping some of the factories with post-colonial equipment to procure new eco-pulping machines that are more efficient and consume minimal power.

Further, farmers will be able to procure lime to treat the soil in their farms through their factories and access inputs such as fertilizers.

The funds were issued by governor Irungu Kang’ata at the County Headquarters who announced that the programme was made possible by the passing of the supplementary budget by the county assembly weeks ago.

“Through this programme, I am fulfilling the pledge I made to people while I was looking for votes that I would empower coffee farmers,” he said.

Last week, the county launched the coffee revitalization project that aims at incorporating youths to boost production and support coffee factories.

The county government has partnered with Murang’a Coffee Farmers Co-operative Union, also known as Mugama, to establish a demonstration farm at Ikundu coffee co-operative society that will be used to train about 150 youths on proper coffee husbandry.

According to the County Executive Committee Member for Agriculture Kiringai Kamau, the County has also partnered with the Co-operative Bank to have over Sh500 million from the Coffee Cherry Revolving Fund disbursed to local farmers.

“Instead of applying for the fund from Nairobi, our farmers will be able to access the money from the union,” he said.

In 2020, the national government started the coffee cherry revolving fund to support coffee farmers as they wait for their payments.

He said a county coffee milling plant started by the former regime is 70 per cent complete and that it will help local farmers to mill and market their own coffee.

The county has also established a laboratory in which farmers will be testing samples of their products to establish its grade.

In the past, farmers complained that millers downgraded their coffee grades to deny them the good pay that comes with high grades.

Kiringai confirmed that the County produced over 600 million metric tonnes of coffee in the 80s but the amount has reduced to about 2 million metric tonnes currently as farmers abandoned crops over the years due to poor pay.

“This is why we are implementing all these programmes because we are hoping to take the sector back to where it was."

The county also issued 29 motorbikes to extension officers to help them reach farmers easily in partnership with the National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Growth (NARIGP).