The price of a 50kg bag of coffee has increased to Sh8,800 up from Sh7,700 last week according to the Nairobi Coffee Exchange, the trading floor of Kenya’s coffee.

The company in a market report says the improvement is attributed to delivery of quality beans by farmers in the country.

According to the 2019 Economic Survey Report, the area under coffee production increased from 114.7 thousand hectares in 2016/17 to 115.6 thousand hectares in 2017/18, mainly on account of small holder co-operatives.

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Coffee beans

The quantity of coffee produced increased by seven per cent from 38.7 thousand tonnes in 2016/17 to 41.4 thousand tonnes in 2017/18. This was as a result of new planting especially in areas west of the Rift and improved productivity in Central and in areas east of the Rift and availability of subsidized fertilizer provided through the National Cereals and Produce Board.

However, coffee production by estates declined by 22.5 per cent from 14.2 thousand tonnes in 2016/17 to 11.0 thousand tonnes in 2017/18 due to uprooting of coffee bushes in peri-urban areas to make way for real estate development. The average yield of coffee from cooperatives increased by 23.6 per cent while that of Estates decreased by 22.6 per cent, in the 2017/18 crop year.