Coffee prices soar, Kenyan farmers may be reborn

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Coffee is one of Kenya's main sources of foreign exchange earnings, accounting for about 6 per cent of Kenya's total export revenue and 0.3 per cent of the country's gross domestic product.

After several years of low ebb, Kenyan farmers may see light again-global coffee prices have hit a new high. In the global market, the price of Kenyan coffee has reached US $7 per kilogram, and Kenyan farmers have made a comeback in their glorious days.

At some point in 2019, the price of Kenyan coffee on the global market fell to 189 Kenyan shillings ($1.75), the lowest level in three years. Throughout the year, Kenyan farmers did not get their ideal income. Under the negative impact of the crop reduction affecting the whole of East Africa, the price of farmers' produce on the global market is not more than US $4 per kilogram.

Many farmers are frustrated by their meagre income. What's more, coffee crops are uprooted and switched to other crops with higher market prices to boost incomes, such as avocados and Hawaiian fruits.

Joseph Mwangi, a farmer from Moranga County in central Kenya, is one of the farmers who uprooted coffee crops. "I used to grow three acres of coffee crops, but I have converted at least one acre of land to avocados, because at least the market price of avocados is stable," he said.

Mwanji, like many other farmers, chose to keep some of the coffee crops because of their attachment to the coffee crops planted by their ancestors.

Although COVID-19 broke out and became popular around the world, leading to the disruption of global trade, 2020 became the best year for farmers as the income of farmers reached a record high as the price of coffee rose.

Although Kenyan coffee exports fell 11 per cent to 43483 metric tons in 2020, the value of coffee exports increased by 9.5 per cent to $202.2 million, according to Kenya's National Bureau of Statistics.

Dozens of cooperatives across the country have helped farmers export agricultural products, which has had a positive impact. For example, according to the Thiriku Cooperative in Nyeri County, central Kenya, farmers' income in 2020 was $1.12 per kilogram, the highest level in nearly a decade.

Gerald Mwangi (Gerald Mwangi), manager of the Muguga cooperative, also in Nyeri County, says farmers earn an average of $0.93 per kilogram. The same is true for other cooperatives in the region, which is good news for many local farmers.

As global coffee prices continue to soar, 2021 does not seem to be any different. Despite the epidemic this year, Kenyan coffee prices on the global market in the first quarter were between $6 and $7, according to KNBS, which bodes well for another good year for Kenyan farmers.

In addition to the rise in global coffee prices, the Kenyan government's reform of the industry and the direct trade of foreign buyers have had a positive impact on the income of farmers. Currently, some cooperatives bypass the Nairobi Coffee Exchange and export their products directly to buyers in the United States, the Netherlands and Denmark.

The Kenyan government has carried out regulatory reforms to the industry and proposed a new law aimed at increasing farmers' incomes and increasing the contribution of coffee crops to the economy. In addition, the Kenyan government has set up a foundation of 3 billion Kenyan shillings ($30 million) to allow farmers to borrow money to mitigate the impact of market volatility, disease disasters and increase production.

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