Nestle in multi-million shilling venture to boost farmers

By Kenneth Kwama

Nestlé has launched a multi-million shilling investment plan.

It hopes to improve the quality of coffee by offering technical support to coffee farmers to help them increase yields and improve the quality of the product.

The firm also said it plans to increase the amount of coffee it buys from farmers to 180,000 tonnes over the next five years. It has invested Sh35 million in the initial phase of the project, Nescafe Plan, to build capacity by offering training and technical support to farmers. It hopes this will help to improve productivity, quality, and higher incomes for farmers.

“Kenya is known globally as a source of high quality coffee, most of which is from small scale farmers. We want to work closely with key partners, including farmers in Kenya, to provide ready market for their raw materials,” said Nestle’s global Chief Executive Officer Paul Bulcke.

Bulcke disclosed the plans during a visit to Karatina last week to launch the inaugural Nestlé Nescafe project in Karatina, whose aim is to offer technical support to nine farmer’s co-operative societies.

Cumulatively, the groups targeted have 27 wet mills and caters for more than 26,000 farming households in different coffee growing zones. Nescafe Plan was launched in March, and with the Coffee Management Services playing a key role.

“The demand for coffee in the world market has shown a steady increase in the recent past and Nestlé, with its world famous coffee brands like Nescafé and Nespresso, is one of the buyers of world class coffee,” said Bulcke. 

Globally, Nestlé plans to invest close to Sh29 billion in the project over the next ten years. This is in addition to Sh17 billion invested in coffee projects over the last decade.