Lifeline for Kenya farmers
Nestle assists struggling coffee growers in multimillion-rand project to secure supplies
WHEN Nestle executive Stephan Canz attended the German school in Nairobi in the early 1980s, it was surrounded by lush coffee farms.
Today, the trees have long since been uprooted and replaced by a shopping mall and upmarket homes, driving a sharp drop in production of Kenya’s premium beans.
“The coffee has disappeared,” Canz, who comanages Swissbased Nestle’s partnerships with coffee farmers globally, said.
“You have to go almost to the slopes of Mount Kenya to find coffee.”
Kenya accounts for just 1% of the global crop, but its high-quality arabica beans are sought after for blending with other varieties.
Alarmed by a steep drop in the country’s production, Nestle, which buys 10% of the world’s coffee and has the leading packaged coffee business, is working with farmers to guarantee its supplies.
In a $1-million (R11.9-million) project, begun in 2010, Nestle said it is boosting bean production and quality.
Mary Wanja, with 350 coffee trees on her plot in rural Kirinyaga at the foot of Mount Kenya, is one of more than 40 000 of Kenya’s 600 000 coffee farmers participating in the project.
She harvested 1 200kg of coffee last year, double the previous year, and saw her annual earnings rise to 100 shillings per kilogram from 70 shillings (R11.80 from R8.26).
“We are planting more trees so we can harvest more,” she said, standing amid newly planted seedlings provided by the Nestle project, which she joined three years ago.
Since Kenya’s production peaked at 129 000 tons in 1988-89 it has dropped steadily due to poor management and global price swings. Farmers have switched crops or sold up.
Nestle works with milling and marketing company Coffee Management Services (CMS) to train farmers regularly on fertiliser application and pest and disease control. It also provides seedlings for farmers.
“People didn’t know how and when to apply fertiliser properly. Nestle has taught us a lot,” farmer William Njeru said.
Njeru harvested 7 600kg last year, up from about 1 200kg a year before he joined the project five years ago.
A half-hour drive up the road from the office of CMS deputy head Peter Kimata sits an abandoned coffee factory.
Farmer Moses Wachira says it was closed in 2013 after its management embezzled farmers’ money. That forced 500 farmers to start selling their coffee to brokers who offer lower prices.
Kenya’s harvest fell 12% in the 2016-17 season to 40 700 tons, according to official data.
Government efforts to revive the sector have faltered.
Last year, a judge stopped the government from acting on the recommendations of an official report on ways to boost coffee production after farmers claimed they were not consulted.
Demand for coffee is growing, including locally.
In Kenya, cafe chain Java, owned by Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj, opened its first shop in 1999 and has grown to 68 retail outlets. – Reuters