Nairobi: Farmers from Baragwi Coffee Factory have reason to smile after the coffee cherry payout for 2024/25 hit the highest ever prices. The factory, located in Gichugu, Kirinyaga County, with 12 wet mills, had an average payout of Sh133, with the highest, Gachami Wet Mill, getting Sh145.10 per kilogramme, while the lowest, Rwambiti Wet Mill, got Sh118.80.
According to Kenya News Agency, Mushagara Wet Mill received Sh143.80; Kagongo Wet Mill, Sh128.70; Karumandi Wet Mill, Sh144.30; Nyanja Wet Mill, Sh140.50; Kianyaga Wet Mill, Sh123.85; Guama Wet Mill, Sh141.80; Kianjiru Wet Mill, Sh128.40; Kariru Wet Mill, Sh139.05; Githiururi Wet Mill, Sh119.30; and Thimu Wet Mill, Sh136.75. The factory received a total of Sh11,908,800.
The Manager of the Baragwi Coffee Factory Society, Cyrus Chomba, congratulated the farmers for their efforts to deliver the product and apply the best agricultural practices. He noted that they have engaged farmers through training and field days and the results have been witnessed in the prices. "I want to congratulate the farmers for their efforts to deliver coffee to our factory and for doing the best agricultural practices. We have been offering several trainings and our farmers are cooperating," he said.
Chomba added that this year, the society has been able to achieve better results and release the payment earlier, attributing it to the availability of fertilisers on time and the installation of solar dryers that have enhanced the process of drying, leading to early delivery to the millers. Chomba urged the farmers to continue producing quality coffees to enjoy the pay. "We constructed solar driers that ensured that by February we had delivered our coffee to millers and sold it to them by March. Also, the fertilisers were availed on time. I call upon our farmers to continue producing quality and quantity coffee to enjoy the fruits of their sweat," he said.
James Nyaga, a coffee farmer from Baragwi, expressed satisfaction with the payment, noting that it has not been the case in the recent past. He called upon the government to subsidise farm inputs to increase production. "We are happy a factory getting Sh145 is not a mean achievement. For the last few years, the payment has been very low. The government should subsidise all farm inputs for the farmers to produce more," Nyaga noted.
Nyaga also asked the Cabinet Secretary for the Cooperatives and MSMEs, Wycliffe Oparanya, not to okay payment of farmers through mobile money because most of them benefit from Sacco loans during emergencies. Mugo Gikombe, another farmer from Baragwi, stated that both the factory management and the coffee marketer did their best, along with the coffee reforms introduced by the government to separate millers and marketers.