Gachagua to convene conference on coffee, tea reforms

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has announced he will be convening a stakeholder conference on the implementation of coffee reforms in two weeks.

The conference, Gachagua said, will bring together representatives of farmers from coffee-growing counties, governors and lawmakers, Cabinet Secretaries for Trade, Agriculture, Cooperatives and members of the Coffee Exchange and Coffee Directorate among other relevant agencies.

“The purpose is to agree on what needs to be done and the MPs and Senators will take it from there and come up with regulations and legislations to cushion farmers from middlemen,” he said.

He noted that another conference to discuss matters of tea to ensure increased productivity and better returns for the farmers will also follow.

The meeting is to enrich ongoing discussions on reforms in the sub-sector at Parliament, and other avenues, including his office.

“We have embarked on an elaborate strategy bringing the stakeholders together to find out the interventions required in terms of direct marketing of our tea and value addition,” he said.

The DP spoke when he visited and engaged coffee and tea farmers separately in various parts of Mathira in Nyeri County.

On the other hand, Catherine Njeri Kagunye, an agricultural policy analyst said brokers in the agriculture sector must be eradicated and the plight of the farmer addressed.

“All people of goodwill must now think of the farmer and join the struggle for better prices and eradication of the cartel ecosystem that has held the supply chain of our agricultural commodities hostage,” she said.

She declared her opposition to the auction of the agricultural products that has been ongoing until guaranteed minimum returns are put in effect.“Agitating for the interests of the farmer is the priority for now, cartels must go down,” she maintained.

Kagunye added that the surest way to achieving the intended objective in the country’s agricultural policy is to provide new guidelines that will remove unnecessary obstacles that impede the growth of the coffee and tea sectors.“The biggest challenge remains cartels and unless they’re edged out, we cannot have a re-negotiation of the prices. The next frontier is also to identify new markets and detach that from the existing marketers of our agricultural produce,” she stated.

Kagunye said she supports all Bills before Parliament that are pushing for reforms in the agricultural sector.

In his address in Nyeri, Gachagua noted that the visit to the farmers was to get first-hand information on the challenges they were facing.

“We are visiting farmers to understand what ails the sector. There is less production because farmers are less motivated because of poor prices and exploitation by cartels,” he said.

He had earlier visited farmers from Ragati Tea Factory where he assured them that plans are underway for another conference for stakeholders in the tea subsector.

According to the DP with the revival plans being undertaken by the Kenya Kwanza administration in both the two sub-sectors, farmers will soon begin to enjoy better returns once the revival initiatives take root.

“We must restore the glory of the coffee farmer. Personally, I was educated from proceeds from coffee. In the 1970s and 1980s, this crop had a lot of credibilities,” Gachagua revealed.

He said they are reining in on the cartels that have been taking advantage of the tea farmers and coming in between the growers and consumers globally.

Under Executive Order No. 1 of 2023, President William Ruto tasked his deputy with the role of spearheading public sector reforms.

He also already hosted several discussions with smaller groups, including Parliamentary Caucus on Coffee and Tea Sub-Sector Reforms.

The conferences under the two cash crops, will, therefore, be a sum-up of the discussions towards final frameworks of implementing the reforms for the farmers to benefit more.