Moses Omusolo
The fortunes of coffee farmers could change after the Government announced a new kitty to support their activities.
The Sh3 billion revolving fund is set to be operational July this year.
It is part of a package of goodies that President Uhuru Kenyatta
outlined for farmers last week, which comes at a time the sector has
been on the verge of collapse due to poor management across the value
chain.
The crop once used to top the country’s export charts.
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Speaking
at the opening of a one-week forum in Nairobi bringing together coffee
farmers and experts around the globe, President Kenyatta reiterated his
commitment to reviving the sector through a raft of far-reaching
measures.
“These reforms are farmer-centric and have been designed to boost
production, reduce the cost of processing, transaction costs, among
others,” noted the President, adding Kenya’s coffee’s future cannot be
bright if key participants in the industry do not receive their dues.
Previous interventions
“Coffee provides livelihoods to millions of persons in coffee growing and exporting countries,” he noted.
The Head of State noted that the Sh3 billion Cherry advance revolving
fund will be in addition to the enhancement of previous interventions
including the rehabilitation of factories and provision of inputs, as
well as extension services.“Consequently, all coffee farmers across the
country will be able to access the fund at a modest interest rate of
three per cent,” he said.
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The
president said the operationalisation of the commodities exchange will
liberalise the coffee sector, ushering in an era of direct marketing by
all stakeholders across the country.
“To protect the sweat of the brow of coffee farmers, my administration
has embarked on a programme to entrench the principles of good corporate
governance within the internal management of cooperatives across the
country,” he revealed.
He said the intervention is in line with the aspiration that
cooperatives are well managed, financially stable, efficient and can
deliver on their mission of enhancing benefits accruing to individual
members.
Mr Kenyatta said Government through the State Department of Cooperatives
is developing a legal framework to entrench annual audits into the
daily operations of societies.
This will ensure audited accounts are submitted to the Cabinet Secretary annually.
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“The
inaugural audits under the forthcoming enhanced regulatory framework
will cover the calendar year 2019, and shall be submitted by all
co-operatives on or before December 31,” he said.
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