Beyond Africa is a supplier of raw materials for the coffee industry around the world, it is being strengthened in coffee producers such as Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda.
One of Kenya’s strategies to achieve this goal is to form a small-scale farmer coffee cooperative.
According to the African Fine Coffee Association, the coffee sector in Kenya is made up of around 800,000 smallholder farmers, organized into about 500 cooperatives.
In doing so, small farmers can pool resources, share knowledge, and improve the quality and consistency of their coffee.
This collective approach not only empowers farmers economically, but also contributes to the sustainable development of Kenya’s coffee industry, said Kalga Macharia, the association’s vice president.
He explained that due to limited availability of land suitable for coffee cultivation, the Kenya coffee industry is focusing on increasing yields per tree to boost overall production without expanding the farmland.
Now, cooperatives are helping farmers increase yields per tree, with some reports showing that a well-managed tree can produce up to 40 kilograms a year, Macharia said.
In Kirinyaga County, Kenya’s Kirinyaga County, the Association of Muchira Farmers’ Cooperatives, which consists of around 8,000 small-scale farmers, is leveraging the region’s unique volcanic soil and favourable climate to produce high-quality coffee in demand in international markets.
Co-op agriculture scholar Victor Munene noted that the co-op can trust farmers with fertilizer and pesticides and repay the loan after delivering coffee cherries.
“The system allows farmers to access the input they need even when they lack immediate funding, which will improve both the yield and quality of their coffee,” Munen said.
He added that the cooperative offers online and in-person training sessions and telephone consultations to support farmers.
Additionally, cooperatives regularly hire agriculture scholars to perform soil sampling and analysis to ensure that they can accurately identify the nutrients needed for optimal crop growth.
In recent years, the Kenyan government has strengthened its efforts to support and reform the country’s coffee industry through several important initiatives.
One major initiative is the establishment and expansion of the Coffee Cherry Advanced Revolving Fund, offering unsecured loans to smallholder farmers to facilitate access to credit.
The government also introduced a “3-day payment guarantee” under the direct settlement system platform, ensuring that farmers receive payments within 72 hours of serving coffee cherries.
Earlier this year, several government sectors co-launched new policies aimed at improving coffee farming technology, expanding cultivation into non-traditional regions, and improving transparency in the auction system.
According to the National Statistics Bureau of Kenya, the country’s coffee exports rose 12% in 2024 to 53,519 tons. Export revenues also rose, rising from $251 million in 2023 to $296 million in 2024.
New markets and opportunities
In addition to organizing smallholder farmers into cooperative associations to enhance collective bargaining power, several African countries are working to increase the added value of the coffee sector by developing local brands.
Currently, Ethiopia is Africa’s largest coffee producer and the fifth largest in the world, producing around 600,000 tonnes of coffee per year.
In recent years, the country has taken important steps to rebuild the coffee industry, moving from exporting raw beans to customized value-added products as it climbs the value chain.
To support this transition, the Ethiopian government has implemented a variety of policies, including registering domestic coffee trademarks in major international markets and actively promoting Ethiopian coffee brands globally.
In 2004, recognizing that most coffee producers are smallholder farmers, the Ethiopian government launched the Ethiopian luxury coffee trademark and licensing initiative.
The initiative has registered trademarks of Yirgacheffe, Sidamo and Harar, three well-known coffee production regions.
Uganda is also working together to enhance the value additions in the coffee sector.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has consistently emphasized that an increase in value is at the heart of the country’s development of coffee industry.
In 2024 he signed the National Coffee (Amendment) Bill. This encourages the establishment of a transparent coffee auction system for farmers to protect farmers from exploitation by intermediaries, and encourages the growth of local processing companies focusing on value-added coffee products.
Coffee producers in Kenya, Ethiopia and other African countries are promoting North and South cooperation to strengthen their position in the global coffee industry by targeting emerging markets such as Egypt, Nigeria and China, and expanding sales networks.
Reissued by Xinhua News Agency