By Our Reporter
Coffee farmers in Ukambani have been all smiles after they got the good news that they will be able to sell their coffee directly to a buyer from South Korea without going through brokerage.
Kwa Mating’i Farmers Cooperative Society chairman James Mwovi said that the plan was beneficial because the farmers will be paid in cash.
However, he argued that the deal would have been better if the buyer would take the whole coffee and not just grade AA and AB.
Mwovi said that because many farmers had uprooted the crop and in order to ensure the required quantity is acquired, a lot of input was needed to return to farming the cash crop.
He explained that to produce quality and quantity the farmers would need to do soil sampling,know what fertilizers, seedlings to use and also pesticides but most of them don’t have the capacity and access to resources.
The chairman urged the county government to consider including the coffee sector in the budget and set funds aside for it.
“Agriculture is devolved and coffee is among the popular cash crops grown in Ukambani, mostly Machakos.The government should take responsibility and give the farmers subsidized seedlings and fertilizer. If we can have a budget then the farmers will be able to go back to coffee farming smoothly and produce quality coffee for our buyer,” he said.
Mwovi also called for the government to carry out capacity building and benchmarking for the farmers to learn new techniques. He also called for extension officers to be reinstated so as to increase production.
“Like in Mount Kenya you will find a farmer who gets 10 kilograms from one plant, if our farmers tour these places they will learn how things are done. That’s why we need the intervention of the government because coffee farming is expensive, the farm inputs are costly and many farmers are unable to afford it. The county should not wait until when NGOs or the national government are undertaking projects to benefit coffee farmers,” he said.
A spot check by Sacco Review established that many coffee farmers cooperative societies in Matungulu and Kangundo were sinking in debt due to financial loans acquired in the past.
