Gusii Coffee Farmers Co-operative Union (GCFCU) has put on hold its plan to add value and packaging of its coffee, citing Kisii County Government's slow pace in funding a research on the project's future sustainability prospects before it is rolled out.
The Union's CEO Robert Mainya has disclosed that based on expert advice from international coffee market players, the project will not be sustainable and there was need for market research to be conducted to ascertain the viability of the project and its sustainability, instead of pumping a lot of funds in a project whose future market prospects were not predictable.
Speaking to this writer in his office at Kahawa House, Mainya challenged the Kisii County Government to fund a research to determine the future sustainability of the coffee value addition and packaging for both domestic and international market, before investing in the project.
“As a Union management, we have sought advice from international coffee market experts and they have forewarned us against venturing into coffee value addition and packaging for international marketing as it will not attract consumers internationally, leading to collapsing of the project,” stated Mainya.
He clarified that the project will not be rolled out instead the Union management has asked the Kisii County Government to consider facilitating the Union to engage in direct coffee sales to ensure farmers get value for their coffee.