Government extends Coffee trading license, calls for review of CMA coffee regulations

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Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Co-operatives, Peter Munya, gives his speech at the New Kenya Planters Co-operative Union Milling Plant in Dandora in Nairobi on government’s ongoing reforms in the coffee sector and details of coffee farmers access to the 3 billion coffee cherry advance revolving fund

The government has extended coffee trading licenses for the next one year.

This comes barely two days after the Nairobi coffee exchange failed to hoard coffee trading and this will also   help in the row that has been building between marketing agents and Capital Markets Authority (CMA).

Trading licenses for the 2019/2020 coffee year expired on June 30, 2020 and Coffee marketing agents were to apply  for new licenses as brokers at CMA which never happened due to what the capital markets regulator said was lack of crucial structures.  

Agriculture Livestock, Fisheries and CCabinet Secretary Peter Munya Thursday confirmed plans to review the CMA Coffee Exchange regulations 2020 in the next 3 weeks which he said will be subjected to public participation.

The CS who was speaking at the new Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (KPCU in Dandora on governments ongoing reforms in the sector and details of Coffee cherry advance revolving fund, regretted that coffee auction did not take-off this week at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) as proper transition logistics were not put in place. 

Samples of 12,000 bags of clean coffee that had been received from marketing agents was not offered for sale on July 7, 2020 a situation that has elicited sharp reactions from value chain players.

Munya said that the government was aware the auction did not take place due to overlooked systems with the current trading rules not properly authored leading to the current confusion and noise from farmers and other stakeholders.

The CS confirmed that the coffee reforms in place will see farmers get details on how much their coffee fetched on the market, reduce wastage occasioned by processing and milling and also improving cooperative societies and access part of the Sh 3 billion government grant from the Coffee Cherry Advance Revolving fund.

The new KPCU started operations in the late coffee season of 2019/2020 and between January and May this year they have received 9,341 bags of parchment coffee, an equivalent of 434 tonnes.