Middlemen fleecing coffee farmers, admits minister

By Patrick Muriungi

Kenya earned a total of US$7.5 billion (Sh555 billion) from coffee exports last year but only US$5.5 billion (Sh407 billion) reached farmers.

Releasing the figures, Co-operative Development Minister, Njeru Ndwiga, said this shows exploitation by middlemen at the coffee auctions.

The minister said local coffee farmers, unlike their counterparts in Colombia, Costa Rica and Brazil, get small returns from the cash crop due to poor marketing methods.

He was speaking in Meru town. He said foreign buyers of Kenyan coffee normally take advantage of the poor marketing loopholes to exploit the producers.

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