Why Nyeri coffee farmers are harvesting poverty and misery from plantations

In the early hours of 31st July 2015, on the slopes of Mount Kenya in Nyeri County, a major protest is brewing. Coffee farmers are preparing for an exercise that will define or change their destinies. The maneuver to voice their dissatisfaction is a necessary feud, even though, Nyeri County Governor Nderitu Gachagwa is against it.

A Ward development meeting turned chaotic after coffee farmers demanded withdrawal from the county government’s initiative to market and sell coffee which they claimed is not benefiting them. Member of County Assembly for Iriani Ward, James Kariuki had asked members of the public to attend a meeting to discuss the development projects in the area. However a section of residents claimed that the farmers from the Gikanda coffee factory society did not want to sell their coffee through Kenya Co-operative Coffee Exporters (KCCE).