Smallholder coffee farmers whose primary cooperative societies deliver their produce for milling and marketing at the Gusii Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union's (GCFCU's) coffee milling plant have a reason to smile courtesy of improved earnings attributed to the mill.
This is among several benefits accruing from the existence of the coffee milling plant in the region, offering coffee farmers value for their investment in the coffee sub-sector.
The mill has scaled down transportation expenses incurred by farmers through ferrying of their produce to be milled and marketed by commercial coffee millers located in parts of Central province, translating to low payments to farmers due to overburdening operational expenses involved in the processing and market chain.
Speaking on Thursday afternoon in his office at Kahawa House, the GCFCU Chief Executive Officer Robert Mainya challenged coffee primary cooperative societies in the two counties of Nyamira and Kisii alongside other neighbouring counties in the former Nyanza Province to utilise the existence of the coffee mill in the region and enhance farmers’ coffee proceeds instead of transporting their produce to commercial coffee mills away from the region.
“As the management of the GCFCU, we encourage managements of the local affiliate coffee cooperative societies to consider delivering their coffee produce to the local coffee mill, to maximise the farmers’ returns,” urged Mainya.
Mainya’s sentiments come in the face of the Kisii county government's spirited campaign against transportation of coffee outside for milling and marketing by commercial coffee millers located in Central Kenya.
Mainya refuted claims that the milled coffee at the Union’s plant fetched the same amount per a Kilogramme as that delivered to competing for commercial coffee mills in Central province.
He dismissed those making such allegations as enemies of the Union’s dream of transforming the local coffee industry into a vibrant economic activity to alleviate poverty and create wealth among local residents the new county government system.
Mainya is optimistic that coffee farmers stood to gain from the benefits accruing from the presence of the coffee mill in the region, saying,it will drastically minimise transportation costs and exorbitant milling tariffs incurred by their cooperative societies marketing and milling their coffee produce outside the region.
“Milling the farmers’ coffee produce in the Gusii Coffee Mill, will not only minimise transportation expenses and high milling tariffs incurred by farmers in commercial mills outside the region," said Mainya.
"But will also reduce coffee thefts syndicates targeting either coffee produce in the societies’ stores or on transit to commercial coffee mills outside the region,” he added.
The CEO warned Boards of Managements of some coffee cooperative societies affiliated to the Union against delivering their coffee produce or half of the consignment to different millers where the farmers received wanting payments due to prohibitive transportation expenses and milling tariffs incurred by their societies.