Machakos farmers abandoning coffee despite a rise in pay

For years, all the farms surrounding Patrick Muthiani’s homestead in Ngiini, Machakos county, were populated with coffee shrubs with branches sagging under the weight of ready-to-harvest cherries.

The retired teacher and other coffee farmers tirelessly directed their energies towards growing the crop. However, their efforts fell short of prolonging its viability as a cash crop.

Eventually, he cleared his bushes to pave way for high-value crops. Soon, more farms downsized coffee plantations, leaving only a small number of farmers invested in the venture.

“Coffee was the main crop in this area; the money it generated was sufficient for families. But as years went by, payment dwindled,” Muthiani said.

“The payout was sometimes less than Sh10 per kilo. Imagine nurturing coffee for a whole year for such meagre earnings?” 

Long before the coffee sector was bedevilled by challenges, it held its position as a major foreign export commodity generating huge revenues. Farmers were well paid, millers cashed in on the trade and everyone in the value chain was happy.

But gradually, hurdles affecting production and marketing made the trade less attractive. More coffee farmers from this region started shifting to explore other farming opportunities with promising returns.

At present, coffee payouts have hit a record high. But even that is yet to win farmers over as coffee bushes slowly continue to shrink. Their hesitancy to revert to the trade is borne out of fear of making losses as before.

MOVED ON

After abandoning coffee a while back, Muthiani started farming maize, avocados as well as operating a chicken hatchery. The remaining proofs of his previous undertaking are countable coffee bushes in his expansive land.

“There is financial gratification from this hatchery business. When the eggs are well cared for and electricity is available throughout, production is at 95 per cent. I do not see myself getting back into coffee growing,” he said.  

His preferred breed is locally known as improved kienyeji, a disease-resistant and highly productive species in comparison to other breeds. Muthiani admits that maize plantations, avocado trees and sukuma wiki (kales) have been bringing better returns as they are not influenced by global markets, unlike coffee.

Noteworthy is that coffee earnings for the current year as well as last year have been the best in years since the revenues started spiralling downwards.

Coffee earnings for January hit a high of Sh5 billion, a 94 per cent rise from Sh2.6 billion in January 2020. The rise was linked to high demand for coffee in the global market in addition to large volumes traded in the auction, according to the Nairobi Coffee Exchange.

Even with these promising prospects, farmers like Muthiani and others are yet to be convinced to return to the old-age crop.

“I have been watching the news and I commend the government’s efforts, but all those years of loss-making and frustrations have had a mental bearing on some farmers,” he said.

Recognised as one of the traditional growing zones in the Eastern province, Machakos is generally warm and dry all year round, receiving moderate rainfall. The conditions have seen the region support the Arabica species alongside the Robusta.

The central highlands are the leading coffee-producing zones due to their rich soils, favourable weather and elevated altitudes. The speciality coffee more often than not originates from these regions.

Shrubs dwarf the spinach and kales under irrigation in Muthiani’s farm. Speaking while probing the food crops, he said poor pricing aside, erratic weather and increased episodes of diseases led him to do away with coffee.

“Although not my immediate reasons for uprooting, the weather did destabilise the trees. Sometimes it rained when it should not, other times the dry spells went on for so long, affecting the quality of the cherries,” Muthiani said.

His father, a veteran coffee farmer, holds an attachment to his century-old shrubs. After his mates pulled out the last of their coffee trees, giving up on the sector, he still hangs on to his.

“I admire my father’s resolve to keep farming coffee, but I think his faith is waning, seeing as in recent months he has been introducing some other crops in-between the coffee bushes,” Muthiani said.

Sandwiched between leafy coffee bushes are six-month-old ‘mogoka’ (khat) bushes, which Muthiani says are likely to fetch some good money once they reach maturity.

The vegetative drug is not exportable from the country. The last export market was Somalia but the ongoing dispute has seen the country ban the importation of the stimulant, leaving traders in a quagmire.

PLEA TO GOVERNMENT

Francis Kilia, factory manager of Mbilini Coffee Factory, says the desirability of coffee farming around the area can only be stimulated by government intervention.  

“Only the government can change the narrative of coffee because the societies are not financially able. Many of these societies are sinking due to debts,” he said.

Kilia said the factory paid farmers Sh73 in their last payout, the highest payout of the three factories under the Mbilini Farmers Cooperatives.

He said the number of farmers supplying their coffee is slowly dipping, going by the volume of coffee being produced in the facility.

“The debts incurred by a factory influence the amount paid to farmers. Of course, other key determinants will also be quantity and quality of coffee brought by the farmers,” he said.

The factory is in dire need of refurbishment as staircases are on the verge of crumbling, while some machines run with much strain.

“This town was very vibrant thanks to the trade of coffee. I was educated with proceeds from the sale of coffee, and people bought cars using coffee money. Therefore, it is sad to live through its challenges,” Kilia said.

For now, he awaits farmers to start trooping in as the harvest season approaches. Coffee in Kenya has two harvest seasons: between May and June and October and December.

As part of the state’s intervention to jumpstart the sub-sector, Agriculture CS Peter Munya said monies will be channelled to repairing of factories and introduction of automated machines.

On the other hand, legislative intervention, which is currently before Parliament, is proposing to introduce sweeping reforms in the sector to improve the livelihoods of farmers and boost the overall sector. In the laws, coffee factories will be allowed to register as autonomous societies if the farmers wish to be registered as such.

Another key change is lending practices. Millers and factories will be prohibited from loaning farmers as is the case. Instead, farmers are being encouraged to tap into the cherry advance fund under the New Kenya Planters Co-operative Union.

INSPIRING CHANGES

The consumption of coffee in the country is quite low, standing at 5 per cent, with the difference being exported. This scenario has exposed the country to volatile global price fluctuations.

Nevertheless, this trend is steadily being changed by the surge of coffee shops in the country as well as the rise of barista training programmes for the youth.

According to the International Coffee Organisation, exports of all forms of coffee from Africa in the first half of 2020-21 decreased by 8.9 per cent to 5.96 million bags, with shipments from Kenya declining by 9.5 per cent.

Uganda is currently the largest exporter in the region. In March 2021, exports from Uganda were 572,839 bags, generating over USD53.55 million (Sh5.3 billion) in export value.

Another veteran farmer, Kavita Makau from Kangundo, told the Star long-drawn-out coffee payment has made the trade unattractive, especially to the young generation.

“Despite the payment being very small, it is also made in bits. The current generation would not find that amusing. They like swift payment for their energies,” he said.

Makau recounts how, while working as a school bazaar, he’d witness parents come in with cheques out of coffee to pay for their children’s fees.

His last harvest fetched him Sh80 for a kilo of mbuni (dried coffee), which he sold to residents and not his usual society. His society paid farmers Sh40 for a kilo of cherries.

Persuaded by the current performance of coffee, he is now deliberating whether to widen the area under coffee.

“With what I hear societies are paying, farmers can buy fertiliser, manure and spray the bushes and still make money, which was not the case for years. So perhaps I might just stop inter-planting and fully focus on coffee,” he said.

Whether coffee will rise above the difficulties it faced to regain its lost glory remains to be seen. There is, however, a glimpse of hope with the soaring market prices.

Edited by T Jalio