Coffee hawking in Kisii hurting cooperative activities
Officials of coffee cooperative societies in Kisii have decried coffee hawking, saying it is affecting their operations and hurting farmers.
Chairmen Johnson Momanyi (Nyaguta Farmers Coffee sacco), Jephta Ayunga (Riasuta sacco) and Stephen Nyakeriga of Magwagwa—said some farmers hawked their coffee to private millers and reduced deliveries to the societies.
Speaking to Business Hub separately, the officials accused the Coffee Board of Kenya of licensing private planters who did not qualify; stressing it was spelling doom to the coffee sector.
He said some planters had less than six acres of coffee and yet the board licensed them without vetting.
“Planters buy coffee from our farmers cheaply, mill it and sell the commodity at high prices while farmers wallow in abject poverty” said Nyakeriga.
He said that the planters had opened outlets at shopping centres to buy coffee while others engaged agents to buy the coffee from farms.
The official appealed to farmers to stop hawking coffee for quick money and instead deliver it at the cooperative societies to boost their earnings
“If farmers continue hawking coffee, some cooperative societies will close since they will not have money to pay workers and overhead costs” said Nyakeriga.
