This archive report was first published on 1 October 2019.
On October 1, 2019, the Nairobi Coffee Exchange released a market report highlighting a significant decline in coffee earnings for the 2018/2019 crop year.
The report showed that Kenya earned $109.56 million from coffee, a 24% decrease from the $145.22 million earned during the same period in 2018.
Nairobi Coffee Exchange Chief Executive Officer Daniel Mbithi attributed the decline to consistent low prices at the New York market, where Kenya trades nearly all its coffee.
The average price of coffee for a 50-kilo bag dropped from KSh 20,300 to KSh 15,300 in the period under review.
According to Mr. Mbithi, global coffee production is expected to hit 170 million 60 kg bags by the end of the next period, while consumption is projected to grow by 2.1% to 165 million 60 kg bags, resulting in a surplus of about 5 million 60 kg bags.
The surplus is likely to put downward pressure on coffee prices, reducing earnings for local farmers.
Kenya is renowned for producing some of the world's best coffee, highly sought after by coffee lovers globally.
