Coffee farmers in Uasin Gishu County have received a major boost after the government announced a comprehensive support package aimed at revitalizing the struggling sector.
Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development, Wycliffe Oparanya, revealed the plans during a meeting with members of the New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (KPCU) in Eldoret.
Under the initiative, the government will distribute 200,000 coffee seedlings this year and an additional 5 million seedlings in the next financial year. Oparanya emphasized the government’s commitment to increasing national coffee production from the current 50,000 metric tonnes annually to 150,000 metric tonnes by 2027.
Noting that Kenya has fallen behind neighboring countries like Uganda and Ethiopia in coffee output, Oparanya said the government is determined to reclaim the country’s position in the global coffee market.
“The government has future plans to distribute 20 million seedlings and has allocated Sh500 million to boost coffee production,” he announced.In addition to seedling distribution, farmers will benefit from subsidized NPK 17:17:17 fertilizer, now available at Sh2,500 per bag through coffee factories and National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) depots.
The move has been welcomed by farmers, who hope the interventions will breathe new life into the once-thriving sector.