- Meru coffee union calls on youth to return to coffee farming amid ageing farmer population
- Climate change and quality concerns push farmers to adopt new production practices
- Union secures Ksh150 million financing to help farmers access specialised coffee fertiliser
Meru Central Coffee Cooperative Union Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Duncan Kiambia Marete has urged Kenyan youth to shun outdated traditions and embrace coffee farming as a reliable, steady source of income.
Speaking at his office in Meru town, North Imenti Constituency, Meru County, the CEO termed such traditions as one of the greatest challenges still facing the progress of coffee farming in Kenya and Africa in general.
He regretted that the majority of youth in Kenya still believe the outdated myth that coffee farming is meant only for older people, noting that production has now been left to an older generation who are not as strong due to their advanced age.
“I’m urging the youth in Kenya to shun the outdated African traditions which allege that coffee farming is only meant for older people. I encourage them to instead embrace coffee farming in order to have a reliable and steady source of income today and in the future. This is the best way of reviving the coffee sector after youth and women abandoned cultivating coffee and went for ‘quick money’ in other industries,” said the CEO.
Marete said youth prefer digital and white-collar jobs, while women have already embraced dairy farming and a saving culture, unlike men. He advised the youth to return to coffee production, insisting the “quick money” they seek can also be derived from the cash crop popularly known as “green gold.”
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The CEO also cited seedlings as another challenge facing the coffee sector but reassured Kenyans that the government and coffee stakeholders have resolved the matter amicably.
Marete said coffee farmers should prepare to return to production, pointing to climate change as another pressing challenge facing the sector. He advised planting indigenous trees to give coffee trees the shade they need, explaining that too much sun exposure causes more of the harvest to fall into the lower-quality C grade rather than the premium AA and AB grades.
He urged farmers to start practising irrigation to increase the quality of their coffee, and said the future of coffee farming will inevitably depend on youth and women, given the advanced age of current farmers.
Union secures Ksh150 million for farm inputs
Marete said the union has secured Ksh150 million through the Cooperative Bank’s supply chain financing to help farmers access specialised coffee fertiliser, whose high cost remains one of the sector’s greatest challenges.
He advised cooperative unions to tender for qualified suppliers of the specialised inputs before proceeding to the union office for a letter of guarantorship, noting that the document enables the bank to release funds meant to pay suppliers.
The CEO urged Meru residents to resume coffee farming, insisting that coffee prices have improved drastically, and said the union works closely with factories and cooperative societies to educate farmers on proper husbandry practices to raise the quality of coffee produced.
“We support the farmer by buying coffee from him, milling it, and selling the final product to the highest bidder. Coffee is doing very well. We have been able to eradicate the brokers who have been fleecing farmers of their hard-earned cash,” said Marete.
By John Majau
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