The government will set up a coffee research institute and a factory in the West.
Co-operatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Development CS Wycliffe Oparanya said the government is looking for 100 acres for the institute to support the coffee industry in the region.
“I will engage the four governors in the West to find out who has land, so we can put up the institute there. The government will also construct a coffee factory and pulping areas.”
The government is keen on supporting the diversification of farming in the West to bolster efforts aimed at eradicating poverty.
Kakamega county will be used to pilot the programme.
Oparanya said 1,200 youths will be recruited across the 60 wards of Kakamega and trained on how to dig holes for coffee.
Some 5,000 women will be trained in coffee farming.
The CS addressed a meeting organised by the Kenya Coffee Planters Union to sensitise farmers on government efforts to revitalise the coffee and dairy sectors at Kakamega Approved School on Wednesday.
The meeting was also attended by Lurambi MP Titus Khamala and his Khwisero counterpart, Christopher Aseka.
The government has set aside Sh500 million for reforms in the coffee sector.
The government has provided Sh10 billion to buy coffee from farmers as they wait for the sale of their produce.
“We discovered that those who buy coffee from farmers come from outside the country and the move is meant to cut out brokers who are exploiting farmers,” the CS said.
The state reforms aim to double coffee production from the current 50,000 tonnes to 100,000 tonnes by 2027.
The CS urged farmers in the Western to form more cooperatives and reinvigorate existing ones as vehicles for economic growth.
He said there are only 2,253 cooperative societies against a national total of 31,258, adding that the small number of cooperatives in Western Kenya does not reflect its population and that was the root cause of the grinding poverty.
He urged farmers to form strong cooperatives to access support from the government and other organisations.
“Small cooperatives should come together to form stronger organisations to support marketing of the produce.”
Khamala said Luhyas have suffered under sugar cane and maize farming and coffee farming will ensure increased incomes to rural populations.
“We like sugarcane and cannot abandon it but we must diversify to ensure enhanced incomes and be able to fight poverty."
