- Two weeks ago, the Munya held coffee reforms public participation in the Meru.
- The CS urged farmers to take their coffee to New KPCU where the government will enforce new regulations to benefit them.
Coffee farmers in Meru and the country are set to benefit after the produce recorded good returns following a doubling of prices.
Agriculture CS Peter Munya’s senior technical adviser Kimathi Amundi said the high prices are as a result of the CS’s interventions to revitalise the sub-sector.
Amundi lauded President Uhuru Kenyatta for directing tea factory director elections in the next 60 days and tasking Munya and Interior CS Fred Matiang’i to oversee the implementation.
The official urged farmers who had uprooted their coffee bushes to replant them saying the sub-sector is now streamlined.
He said it is regrettable many Cabinet secretaries have had a chance to revive the sector but never did anything for fear of threats and intimidations from cartels who take advantage of the farmer.
Two weeks ago, the Munya held coffee reforms public participation in the Meru.
The CS urged farmers to take their coffee to New KPCU where the government will enforce new regulations to benefit them.
“If they take it elsewhere, they should not blame the government if their coffee is stolen by brokers,” he said.
Munya said New KPCU has minimal milling losses compared to coffee unions that were there before.
“When union was milling, the average loss was about 24 per cent but now it has gone down to 17 per cent and that means that there was some inflated figure of about six per cent,” he said.
On the quality of coffee, the CS he said about 70 to 80 per cent was grade C under the unions. But that has significantly improved to 70 to 80 per cent being grade A — meaning the coffee quality might have been tampered with.
Amundi expressed confidence that even the tea reforms will go through, adding that the government has never been defeated on their policies aimed to transform the sector.
Amundi who spoke on Tuesday, downplayed allegations that the public participation the CS has been conducting across the country are political.
He said every citizen has a right to participate in giving their views on any government’s agenda.
“CS Munya is not campaigning. His enemies are spreading rumours. The CS has been holding meetings to enlighten farmers. We know cartels are not happy. They are filing cases in court but I assure farmers they won’t succeed. Government has never been defeated,” he said.
-Edited by Sarah Kanyara