This archive report was first published on 30 June 2020.
June 30, 2020, marked the launch of the government's Sh3 billion cherry advance levy fund, aimed at providing cheap loans to small-scale coffee farmers in Central Kenya. However, the initiative has failed to attract many farmers, with officials from co-operative societies in the region expressing concerns over the fund's hidden agenda.
According to Mukua Chiira, an official at the Ndaroini Co-operative Society in Mathira, most farmers are apprehensive about the government's plan to channel the funds through the New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (KPCU). This, they fear, will lead to the government-backed miller monopolizing the market and stifling competition.
"The main reason why most of the farmers are yet to borrow these funds is due to the fact that most of them believe that channeling of the funds through new KPCU is aimed at giving the government-sponsored mill advantage of milling and marketing their crop," said Chiira.
Despite Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya's assurances that the government has weeded out cartels that had looted the old Union, farmers remain skeptical. Munya had stated that the New KPCU is fully under the control of the national government and that no single shilling belonging to farmers will disappear.
However, farmers are not convinced, with many believing that the government's plan is to monopolize the coffee market. The New KPCU has the capacity to mill all coffee grown in the country, but Munya has stated that the government will not be pushing farmers to mill or market their coffee through KPCU, adding that any engagement will be on a voluntary basis.
