The Mountain Journal
Four coffee cooperative societies in Embu and Kiambu have resolved to increase consumption of coffee through ensuring each of their members buy at least half a kilogramme annually.
Through a programme dubbed ‘eat what you produce,’ the farmers will register improved sales of their commodity as they enjoy the commodity once regarded for the export market.
In the strategy, the growers affiliated to Gititu,Mikari,Kithungururu, and Kagaari North cooperative societies located in Kiambu, and Embu counties resolved that each member must consume at least 500 grammes of roasted coffee annually.
The societies, through the support of Institute for Peace Development and Innovation (IPSIA), an Italian NGO, assisted with equipment for processing, roasting, and packaging, with farmers targeting the first customers.
Dennis Mwenda, a programme officer at IPSIA says they have been mentoring the coffee farmers to ensure they get the value of their produce, through their local initiatives.
In Kenya, locals consume between three percent and five percent of the production, with AFA and other stakeholders promoting the local consumption targeting 10 percent of the production in three years.
Mwenda said packaging is part of the innovation adopted by the farmers to assist in marketing their coffee which is presently available in many outlets.
“ The resolution by the coffee farmers in the four cooperatives was mooted towards increasing consumption of coffee in Kenya, where the majority view it as an export material,” said Mr Mwenda during the agro ecology symposium in Nairobi.
