Ruto
Kenya is hosting a high-profile delegation from Colombia for advanced talks on cooperation in Coffee farming and trade as the two nations look to strengthen ties to boost the local subsector.
The Colombian delegation is in the country for five days and in addition to the talks, will visit factories and farms to familiarise themselves with the Kenyan coffee industry.
The meeting is a follow-up to Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s visit to Colombia last September where he pushed for advanced cooperation between the two nations to realize better yields for Kenyan coffee farmers.
Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Cooperatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development, Simon Chelugui, and Colombian Ambassador to Kenya Mr Pedro Leon Rui, welcomed the discussions saying they would boost the ties already nurtured by the two nations.
Addressing the delegation on Monday at Emara Ole Sereni Hotel Nairobi, Chelugui said the government is focused on empowering smallholder coffee farmers since the crop plays a key role in enhancing the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Kenya.
“The Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) envisions a productive coffee subsector and hence committed to increasing coffee production from the current annual production from 51,000 metric tonnes to 200,000 metric tons by the year 2027,” said Chelugui.
He reminisced that in the 1980s, coffee was the leading foreign exchange earner for Kenya. The production, he said, deteriorated from a peak of 130,000 tonnes in 1983/1984 to a low of 34,000 tonnes in 2020.
“Over 70 percent of coffee production in our country is carried out by the smallholders, who are organised into cooperatives,” said CS Chelugui.
Ambassador Leon Rui explained that the members of Colombia National Federation of Coffee Growers, are on a five-day visit and they will have a peer-to-peer session with Kenyan farmers.
“This is an important milestone in cementing the relationship between Kenya and Colombia. We have been working together and our ties with Africa is a priority. Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives and Enterprise Simon Chelugui visited Colombia last year,” he said.
“Connection with Colombia is because we have a lot of potential to work together and learn. Coffee is our treasure; the collaboration is part of other common goals we are building in Kenya”.
On Monday afternoon, the delegation toured the New Kenya Planters Coffee Union, Dandora Branch, where they were taken through the process of milling, coffee cupping, and cataloging.
