More than 18,000 coffee farmers in Murang’a have used agricultural extension services and soil science to boost yields and earnings.
The farmers benefitted from the Sh70 million partnership between Nescafe and Coffee Management Services that has offered training, milling and marketing service since 2011. The programme is titled the Nescafe Plan.
Co-operative societies in the programme have recorded a 12 per cent rise in coffee production while farmers said their yields increased from 2.5kg per tree to up to 7kg.
“We have been able to increase the production from about 8.4 million kilogrammes to 9.4 million kilogrammes for the farmers that we have been working with,” said Judy Mwangi, Nestle Kenya corporate communications and public affairs manager.
Last year, the company launched the third phase of the programme that aimed at integrating women into coffee farming and management.
Some 2,771 women coffee farmers from 12 co-operative societies in Nandi, Bungoma, Kericho, Murang’a and Tharaka Nithi counties have been reached.
They were trained to manage their coffee farms as a business and implement good agricultural practices.
The courses were on leadership, farm management, financial literacy and coffee verification so they can lead the cooperatives.
Some 6,039 other women were empowered in the first two phases that ran for three years each.
The programme will run for three years and has supported each of the cooperative societies.
“Women do more than two-thirds of the work involved in coffee farming in Kenya yet they hold less than 5 per cent of coffee cooperatives societies’ leadership,” Mwangi said.
Image: ALICE WAITHERA
CMS’ development and sustainability manager Phyllis Waweru said the programme is focusing on the quality and quantity of coffee production.
Speaking while visiting coffee farms in Kandara on Friday, Waweru said farmers have adopted key agronomy practices to boost production. The aim is to increase yields by 25 per cent.
Gakui Coffee Co-operative Society chairman Peter Njoroge said coffee production has improved from about 45,000kg in 2018 to 230,000kg last year with a production projection of 600,000kg.
Farmers have now moved from the disease-prone SL-28 variety to Ruiru 11 which requires less spraying. They have also been trained on bookkeeping, pruning and planting.
“About 60 per cent of our 719 farmers have grafted their coffee and about 90 per cent of our coffee is now premium grade up from grade C,” he said.
Milkah Nyambura, a farmer, said she previously could not make any returns from her half-acre coffee farm due to the low harvests and high costs of inputs.
Her harvests have jumped from below 500 kilos in 2017 to 2,080 kilos last year.
Boniface Murichu, another farmer, said he could not get 500 kilos before and is now hoping to get 1,600 kilos this year.
“Though I did not uproot my coffee when the prices slumped, I neglected the farm but now the prices have moved from Sh20 per kilogramme to over Sh. per kilogram,” he said.