Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Friday read the riot act to cartels in the coffee sector telling them their time to reap where they had not sown was over.
Speaking when he convened the first national Coffee Reforms Conference in Meru Town, the DP said the farmers had been exploited for long promising to deal with the cartels and other interests by accelerating reforms in the sector.
"Dignity of farmers who toil in their farms only to reap peanuts from their produce will be returned and coffee made the black gold that it was for years," Gachagua said at Three Steers Hotel in Meru town.
"I want to tell the coffee cartels that their time is up. They must give way and align with us or we get you out. It is not business as usual. This is the administration that will sort out the issues of cartels in coffee, tea and milk and restore the dignity of the farmer,” the DP said.
During the conference, farmers, leaders and participants identified cartels and middlemen as the biggest stumbling block towards better returns for farmers.
The Deputy President said he was ready to work harder to ensure the sector is free of the exploitative middlemen that have denied farmers the rightful returns.
"I’m incorruptible. Nobody can offer me anything to remove me from the path of coffee reforms that will put money in the pockets of farmers. The biggest legacy we will nurture is return the dignity to the farmers,” the DP observed.
He added that farmers must earn at least 90 per cent of coffee sales and assured them of planned radical reforms in the Nairobi Coffee Exchange, Coffee Board of Kenya and Coffee Research Institute to make them more effective and farmer-focused.
"In the late 1970s, a membership number of a cooperative society was much more credible than a banker’s cheque because it had better returns. We saw it work, we were educated through coffee proceeds. If it worked then, it must work now," Gachagua said.
The three-day conference brings together farmers, national and county leaders, lawmakers and other stakeholders for a brainstorming meeting on how to restore glory to the sector.
Gachagua said the recommendations from the conference would be anchored in law so they are easily implemented.
Leaders and farmers from the coffee-growing regions expressed their anger at the exploitative tendencies they have had to deal with by those seeking to swindle farmers.
"If we don’t deal with cartels we will be wasting time trying to revive the sector. It is about time we faced these cartels and tell them enough is enough. We must deal with them squarely. We cannot lead farmers who are suffering," Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire said.
Farmers also had time to present challenges and solutions to the problems they have had to face for years. They also asked for radical initiatives to revive the sector.
"We call for establishments of a coffee development fund, managed by the Coffee Board of Kenya. This fund can also be used to stabilise prices to cushion farmers from turbulent markets," farmer Newton Nderitu said.
They also said infusing technology in the coffee production chain will seal loopholes exploited by cartels.
"We call for digitisation of coffee operations capturing traceability to prevent theft and other losses. Digitisation will improve transparency,” Rosemary Matu, a coffee farmer from Nyeri County said.