Over the last decade, coffee farmers in Nandi have gradually dropped the crop and adopted other agricultural economic activities as the berries turned unprofitable, amid exploitation by brokers buying the crop directly from them at throwaway prices.
More locals, who for years have depended on coffee growing, have removed the trees from their farms to pave the way for crop diversification and boost earnings.
With the intervention of non-governmental organisations and the county government, the farmers have adopted dairy farming and horticulture, seen as short-term economic activities to enhance regular earnings.
Cooperative societies in the region, feeling the weight of the declined coffee proceeds, have resorted to supporting farmers to explore various new farming techniques.
Among the coffee cooperative societies, the oldest entity is Kabunyeria Coffee Cooperative Society in Tinderet sub-county, with over 1,500 farmers.
Its chairman, Mr James Maiyo, blames the government, citing its failure to initiate mitigation initiatives to salvage the ailing sub-sector, which he says has forced Nandi farmers to adopt alternative farming practices.
“The brutal invasion of brokers into the once-lucrative sector in the region has led to poor market prices, causing farmers to uproot and prune the crops to plant other crops,” he said.
Coffee farming in the region started back in the early 1960s. It flourished after being introduced by the British government before independence.
Between 1990 and 2000, Nandi was one of the leading producers of coffee in Kenya, a commercial crop that is one of the major agricultural exports to international markets.
Inconsistent coffee prices and price fluctuations at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) largely played a role in reducing interest in the crop among growers.
But it is mostly because of the manipulation of the industry by middlemen who exploit farmers, buying the berry at throwaway prices and sell it expensively on international markets.
The region has less than 10 active cooperative societies, down from more than 20 a few years back.
“The traders come to buy our produce at Sh40 to Sh50, which is not helping the small farmer. This has pushed farmers to abandon coffee farming for good,” Mr Maiyo said.
He also cited a lack of storage facilities, which he said had affected the quality of cherries because the cooperative societies must collect coffee in bulk before selling it.
The produce rots while it is in storage, thus compromising the grading standards of the coffee that is finally released to the market, he stated.
Farmers have resolved to take up progressive farming activities by adopting diversification initiatives promoted by the county government, even as they are urged not to abandon coffee growing.
Mr Isaac Metto, the Kabunyeria Cooperative Society manager, said the unpromising coffee prices in Kenya have prompted farmers to shift to milk production, flexible farming that enables value addition depending on the market demand.
Farmers acquired milk storage facilities among other farming accessories from the county government in collaboration with Solidaridad to help with milk collection and transportation.
"It has now been a few months since we started and we have seen changes. Dairy farming is sustainable and progressively bringing more income to our farmers than coffee farming, and this enhances food security in the country," he said.
“We are realising the benefit of mixed farming. It spreads risk and boosts economic growth throughout the year, unlike coffee harvested once annually," Mr Metto said.
He also said the cooperative management can identify a good market for milk, now between Sh35 to Sh40 a litre.
The prices are better than selling coffee berries, which normally happens twice a year.
Ms Pamela Ruto said she has made significant profits in the last year from dairy farming, unlike before when she fully relied on coffee farming, which was frequently affected by diseases, pests and poor market prices.
"We received training on dairy farming and its management, and we picked from a small number of breeds that we can handle.
Comparatively, milk production is cheaper than coffee due to readily available dairy feeds," she said.
Ms Ann Wanjiru, the Solaridad programme agent, noted that dairy farming was one of the pilot projects launched to mitigate food insecurity.
The county government is concerned about the rate of decline of coffee farming in the region. Governor Stephen Sang has expressed fears that the crops will disappear if there is no intervention.
The governor faulted the National government, accusing it of failing to kick out cartels and brokers exploiting farmers.
“We have been forced to move in and set up an initiative by providing incentives to motivate farmers to continue growing the cash crops for their economic sustenance,” he stated.
Agriculture executive Dr Kiplimo Lagat said cooperative societies that had collapsed had been revived through the supply of coffee seedlings to farmers to revive the growing of the crop.
