Kirinyaga County Governor Anne Waiguru has engaged key stakeholders in the coffee sector to find a common ground on the proposed payment system to the farmers, which has created a rift between the government and the farmers, leading to court cases.

In a consultative meeting with representatives from Capital Markets Authority (CMA), Agriculture and Food Association (AFA), Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE), farmers’ cooperative societies and unions, the county’s department of agriculture and the department of trade and cooperatives, Waiguru said that it was important to consider the grievances raised by the farmers in order to eventually settle for a system that is agreeable to the various stakeholders.

The governor advised coffee stakeholders in Kirinyaga County to consolidate their views on the proposed coffee Direct Sales and Settlement (DSS) regulations that have been contested by a cross-section of farmers in the county.

The farmers in the county have said that the new coffee DSS proposal would disadvantage farmers as well as their cooperative societies. Some of the issues raised are the farmers’ ability to access advance payment and affordable loans from their factories as well as farm inputs that are normally deducted from their pay-out.

They also raised concerns about their readiness to transition to direct payments raising issues such as data incompleteness, financial literacy and outstanding debts. The government on the other hand has hailed the system as one that would safeguard the farmers’ interests, increase transparency, minimise financial mismanagement and reduce delays in payments.

“After thorough deliberations on the proposed process, its justification and the farmers’ opposition, we agreed that each group would consult further before reconvening to resolve the outstanding issues,” Waiguru said.

Kirinyaga County is a leading player in the coffee industry with an annual production of over 40,000 tonnes. Its coffee is milled and marketed through the cooperative system that incorporates about 120,000 small holder farmers from across the county’s coffee growing zones.

Waiguru reaffirmed her commitment to empowering coffee farmers to increase earnings from production, coffee value addition, processing and marketing with the aim of uplifting their living standards besides championing favourable policies that would strengthen coffee farming and ensure that farmers from the county get value for their produce.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Mutai Kipngetich

Governor Waiguru in a meeting with the coffee stakeholders.

Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru. Photos by Mutai Kipngetich.