Nine thousand five hundred eighty two (9582) smallholder coffee farmers under Kipkelion District Co-operative Union Ltd(KDCU) in Kericho have received payment amounting to Kshs 105.1 million for the sale of 134.4 metric tonnes of coffee exported to South Korea a month ago. Out of this direct sale, the farmers drawn from Kericho, Nandi and Bomet counties earned an average of Kshs 116 per kg of cherry, compared to the average of Kshs 76 fetched at the local auction.
Speaking while presenting the cheque to the farmers at Kipkelion Coffee Mill, Kericho Governor Prof.Paul Kiprono Chepkwony termed the move by the small scale farmers to manoeuvre through the “suppressive brokers and other intermediaries” to access direct market for their produce as historic and commendable. The farmers now want the Nairobi Coffee Exchange to open the door for them to participate in the local auction. At the same time, the Governor presided over the groundbreaking for constructing a warehouse to assist the farmers in storing their produce as they await exportation.
