Farmers picking coffee in Kirinyaga .[ photo / Sample Coffee roasters.]
The value of the Kenyan coffee declined by 15 per cent in eleven months to November to record Sh776 million from the corresponding Sh916 million recorded in a similar period last year on account of low prices.
According to a report released by Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) chief executive officer Daniel Mbithi on Friday last week, the 15 per cent decline which is an equivalent Sh 139 million has been brought by the poor selling prices that has seen the 50 kilogramme bag of coffee selling at Sh20,651 down from Sh22,546 recorded last year.
“Volumes realised matched those of the same time last year. The average prices, however, were lower by 8.41 percentage points," Said Mbithi.
Mr Mbithi added that the decline recorded last month was as a result of heavy rainfall that could not allow farmers to dry the berries and thus delaying the access time to the factory.
The ongoing auction has depending on the produce from the Central kenya as it has pushed the bag of coffee to averagely sell ate Sh23,587 in the latest sale, recording the highest price in the 2017/2018 crop year.
In a previous report, the NCE had put the country's earning in coffee sales at Sh 15.3 billion for the year ending on August as compared to Sh 13.9 billion recorded in a similar period last year.
In the current auctioning, an estimated 85 per cent of the coffee is sold to the local market and traders while the remaining is sold direct to buyers overseas.