Kenya has received Sh1.5 billion for specialty coffee from World Bank
World Bank has funded Kenya with $1.5 billion to improve on the production of specialty coffee.
The capital is set to be disbursed to eight counties that produce more than 70 per cent of the national coffee production. It will also be used to finance co-operatives process such provision of seeds and subsidized fertilizers to farmers so as to boost productivity.
As announced by the Agriculture secretary, Mr Munya yesterday during the launch, part of the funds will also be used to in marketing. There are plans under way to link farmers to direct market so as to get good returns and exclude the issue of cartels.
Currently, the country sells only 12 per cent of the produced coffee to the World market through direct sales and more than 95 per cent through an auction at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange.
The World Bank project is expected to raise the production of coffee from the current 40, 000 metric tonnes a year to more than 100, 000 metric tonnes a year.
This came in when President Kenyatta has just extended the term of coffee sector implementation last week by one more year to enable it to finalize the national coffee policy. The term was to end this April.