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"content": "crops like wheat, maize and other cash crops, by having in place plans, strategies and subsidy programmes that have assisted the farmers who grow those kinds of crops to continue, even when times are lean. This Motion seeks to urge the Government to take an exceptional look at the plight of our Kenyan people, who farm these two cash crops. Madam Temporary Speaker, I wish to second this Motion, and as I do so, state a few facts about the current state of our coffee and tea farming. Coffee farming in Kenya has declined consistently, year after year since 1963 up to 1988 at a gradual rate of about 6.6 per cent steadily until the year 2008 and 2010, when production of coffee dipped to an all time low and reduced by about 62 per cent. Madam Temporary Speaker, coffee farmers, all this time, have also had to put up with the malady of the coffee berry disease and coffee leaf rust, which even now still remain a major factor which affects the yields and the cost of producing these varieties of coffee that are produced in Kenya. Currently, it is estimated that about 135,000 hectares of land is under coffee in Kenya, of which 67 per cent is under the co-operative sub- sector, and 33 per cent is in estates. The coffee industry in Kenya is noted for an effective co-operative system of production, processing, milling, marketing and auctioning of the coffee. About 70 per cent of coffee that we produce in Kenya is produced by small-scale farmers. Madam Temporary Speaker, by the year 2012, about 150,000 coffee farmers were tabulated to be existent in Kenya, with about six million Kenyans directly or indirectly benefitting from the coffee industry. The highest coffee production figures in the country were recorded in 1987 and 1988 when almost 130,000 tonnes of clean coffee were produced. But like I have said, this has consistently been reducing to an all time low of 40,000 metric tons last year. In contrast, Madam Temporary Speaker, the Colombian Federation of Coffee Growers in June this year announced that the Government of Colombia had given US$180 million in income support to its coffee farmers. The organization explained that subsidies to Colombia’s coffee farmers were necessary to sustain the industry due to Colombia’s economic situation and the global coffee price fluctuations. Due to that incentive, as an example, coffee production in Colombia last year increased by about 36 per cent. Madam Temporary Speaker, there are a number of possible reasons for the decline in coffee production in Kenya today. Clearly, it is important that we look at the decline in world coffee prices, which has taken place for the last two decades. In Kenya, the Coffee Development Fund, which was established by the Government in 2006, was intended to be a vehicle that was supposed to revitalize the coffee sub-sector. Its mandate was to provide sustainable, affordable credit to coffee farmers for farm inputs, farming operations and income stabilization. Currently, this Fund has been giving coffee farmers only about US$13 million in loans, which is shared among its members totaling to 61,000 coffee farmers in Kenya. According to one Mr. Patrick Nyaga, the Coffee Development Fund Managing Trustee, the coffee sub-sector in Kenya requires about US$125 million to meet the needs of Kenyan coffee farmers. The interest rate that is charged on the funds given to these farmers is about 10 per cent. It is also important to note that when it is given at 10 per cent, the consistent rate of inflation in this country has been about 9 per cent for the last The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}