Farmers burned by tea and maize seek comfort in coffee

NAIROBI, KENYA: The mention of coffee in some parts of the country sends shivers down the spines of farmers due to the rampant theft of berries. This vice has seen coffee farmers in central Kenya, where the crop is grown on a large scale, abandon it for real estate to avoid chalking up losses.

But farmers in the South Rift have begun to warm up to it. Farmers reeling from dwindling tea earnings and a loss of harvest after widespread maize lethal necrosis disease attacks are slowly turning to coffee.