Kirinyaga: Coffee farmers have been assured of higher pay in the incoming season of 2025/2026 as the government is firming up the reforms to ensure timely availability of fertilizer, subsidized pesticides and certified coffee seedlings through better resourcing from the Coffee Research Institute. Deputy President Professor Kithure Kindiki said the government is putting together all the resources and policies required to ensure the farmers' interests are taken care of from production to marketing.
According to Kenya News Agency, the Deputy President was speaking at Kianjang'a Primary School Grounds in Ndia, Kirinyaga County, where he held an open engagement forum with 12,000 coffee farmers from Ndia Constituency. During this forum, he updated the farmers on government interventions in the incoming coffee season and received suggestions on how to sustain profitability in the sector from the farmers' representatives. The government is committed to ensuring farmers receive their inputs on time, with reforms guaranteeing timely access to essential resources like fertilizer, subsidized pesticides, and certified coffee seedlings.
Professor Kindiki also highlighted that the two houses of Parliament will soon finalize the enactment of the Coffee Act, 2025, and the Cooperatives Act, 2025. This new legal framework will enhance governance and accountability within cooperative societies and coffee factories, while removing exploitative middlemen who have long benefited at the expense of farmers.
In the recently concluded season, a kilo of cherries fetched Sh. 110-150 across societies in the Mt Kenya region, with the highest being in Othaya, Nyeri County, which paid Sh. 162 per kilo. Farmers at the meeting expressed their appreciation for the ongoing reforms and called for further support in marketing, access to finance, and protection from price manipulation.
The engagement forum was attended by several notable figures, including MPs George Kariuki (Ndia), Joseph Gitari (Kirinyaga Central), Wangui Ngirici, Chairperson of Kenya Seed Company, and Kirinyaga County Assembly leadership.