Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka now wants coffee from Bungoma milled, packaged and sold directly to the international market by cooperative societies.
He spoke during an engagement forum with coffee farmers in Chesikaki.
“Despite the local farmers toiling hard, they earned peanuts while the bigger share of the proceeds goes to coffee cartels,” he said.
He committed to achieving licensing of the Mt Elgon Coffee Marketing Agency which has already been registered by the Capital Markets Authority.
He promised to ensure the agency is admitted to Nairobi Coffee Exchange.
Currently, Chesikaki Coffee Factory only mills and forwards their coffee to commercial marketers who sell the produce on behalf of the farmers.
Lusaka at the same time warned the society officials against corruption saying the vice had killed many such organizations in the past.
Mt Elgon Farmers’ Cooperative Society CEO Philip Ndiema said coffee cartels at the auction were against them getting the licenses.
“We are calling on our leaders to step in and save us from the cartels who are fighting our licensing to sell our coffee directly,” Ndiema said.
Source : The Star
