Counties, Coffee Board headed for clash over milling factories

By Nicholas Waitathu

Kenya: Counties are headed for a clash with the Coffee Board of Kenya (CBoK) over drying mills.

The marketer has cautioned against rushing to invest in coffee mills, saying output at county levels does not warrant such investment.

Governors in coffee growing counties have been making arrangements to buy crushing machines as well as establishing county marketing agencies.

But the CBoK managing director Loise Njeru says that with little production, the machines risk ending up as elephants projects and a burden to counties as they service loans borrowed to acquire them.

Currently, the country is home to 15 coffee dry mills facilities spread across 12 counties that grow coffee with a milling capacity of 245,500 metric tonnes which is five times the current production levels. 

Endowed potential

Presently, national out stands at 36,000 metric tonnes, which is far below the country endowed potential of over 300,000 metric tonnes every year.

In 1987/88, the country’s peak years in coffee output, Kenya produced 129,000 tonnes per year with just three coffee dry mills.

Njeru says the current production levels are therefore too low to be milled by more than 15 coffee dry mills, let alone investing in newer mills.

Under the proposed county approach, farmers will be expected to commit up to Sh10 million to buy a single machine with a capacity to crush one tonne per hour.

Several farmers have voiced frustration with the coffee board, which they dismiss as a puppet of the multinational companies with local networks out to frustrate the farmers’ agenda fearing to lose business.

“Farmers are now under the jurisdiction of the county governments and there is no way the board can continue frustrating farmer desires,” said an officer in the ministry of agriculture who did not wish to be identified.

“The board ought to know it is part and parcel of the problems facing the industry.”

Stakeholders fear that without addressing the production aspect, the milling machines might be white elephants projects in future and equally burden farmers.

Production is feared might go down further especially as the farmers continue diversifying into other economic activities such as horticultural crops, bananas, and real estate.  

Over the years, the area under coffee has dropped to 110,000 hectares from 150,000 hectares leading to the reduced coffee output.

For example, Murang’a County, which used to produce almost half of the national coffee output is pale with grinding poverty among other agonies ravaging bulk of farmers.

Murang’a Governor Mwangi wa Iria says the coffee industry has been mismanaged over the years.

“Mismanagement has over time resulted in low productivity and poor pay for farmers,” wa Iria said.

“Most farmers abandoned coffee and opted for other ventures — dimming the future of a previously high-paying crop in the country,” he said.

Now governors in coffee growing areas are betting on the revival of the crop to improve their counties’ fortunes.

Forty-five coffee co-operative societies in the county installed a milling plant — Eastern Aberdare Co-Operative Coffee Mills (ECC Mills) with a capacity of 1.5 metric tonnes per hour.

In Nyeri, there are three milling machines already installed. They include Othaya, Rumutia and Central Kenya.  Kiambu County has six operational dry mills — majority of which are commercial farmers owned by multinational companies with local affiliates.  Other dry mills in the country include Bungoma, Kipkelion and Kisii.

Poor management

Meru farmers leased a mill owned by KPCU while Kirinyaga farmers have rented mill erected by KPCU at Sagana Township.

While cautioning that dry mills are too many in the country, former Coffee Board of Kenya chairman Daniel Mwago acknowledged that farmers have been prompted to initiate the investments to avoid setbacks they have faced owing to mismanagement of the value chain. 

“A key reason prompting farmers to install milling plants and creating marketing agencies is to avoid agonies they have suffered out of unfair business practices in the industry which are instigated by the multinational companies,” Mwago a farmer in Nyeri county stated.

He agrees that the facilities might be abandoned later as well subject farmers to a lot of debts in future if meaningful strategies are not employed to promote production.