January 10, 2022 - Murang'a County is set to benefit from a major boost in its coffee sub-sector with all 144 coffee factories within the county expected to get new coffee drying beds within the next eight months.
The Irungu Nyakera Foundation, in partnership with the Kenya Coffee Platform, has started installing the new drying beds in an effort to improve the quality of coffee.
Former Planning Principal Secretary Irungu Nyakera, who is also the founder of the Irungu Nyakera Foundation, said the new drying beds will ensure the quality of coffee is not compromised, thereby fetching better prices for farmers.
Speaking at Njora Coffee factory in Kigumo Sub County, Nyakera observed that the existing coffee drying beds were in a deplorable state, making proper drying of coffee beans a challenge.
He noted that the poor drying results in poor quality of coffee getting to buyers, leading to farmers earning lesser money from their produce.
“When quality of coffee is compromised, the product will also fetch less price and that will negatively affect coffee farmers,” Nyakera said.
He added, “My foundation has partnered with the Kenya Coffee Platform to install new drying beds to all 144 coffee factories within Murang’a. This will help improve the quality of coffee.”
The coffee sub-sector has been performing poorly, prompting some farmers to abandon the cash crop. Production of coffee in the country has gone down by close to four times, occasioned by poor management of the sub-sector and low prices.
However, Nyakera said the price of coffee has started to improve, and he is challenging the government to lower farm inputs, which will lead to an increase in coffee production.
He also announced that his foundation, in partnership with the coffee societies in the county, will establish nurseries to produce seedlings, which will be distributed to farmers.
Kenya Coffee Platform Murang’a chapter Chairperson Maina Mburu lauded the move to replace the deplorable coffee beds, saying poor drying of coffee beans has cost farmers a lot of money.
He added, “Every week we will be installing two to three coffee beds in various factories. Every drying bed will have a capacity to dry more than 3,000 kilos of coffee in every two weeks.”
