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Heavy rains to cut Kenya coffee output this year
Source: Agencies |
August 11, 2010, Wednesday
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CHARLES Muriuki scoops fine coffee into a filter and rues the impact of heavy rain on this year's crop in farms across the surrounding lush hills of central Kenya.
The chairman of the 2,700 member Gikanda Farmers' cooperative said unseasonal rains at the start of this year were likely to cut production by about 10-20 percent in the 2010/11 (Oct-Sept) coffee year from about 2 million kg this year.
"It rained in January, February and March. Those are the three months we expect coffee trees to be stressed so they produce good flowers. This time they did not get that stress so the flowers aborted," Muriuki said in an office at one of the society's three factories.
Farmer George Gakuo who harvested 2,600 kg last year expected that to fall closer to 2,000 in the next crop year.
"Coffee did not blossom. That is the problem that was caused by the rain. But I expect we will get good prices due to the lower volumes," Gakuo said, standing among his 200 coffee bushes on a small plot, next to a busy highway, with the roar of passing vehicles in the background.
SOUGHT AFTER
Kenyan beans from farms in the area and in the neighbouring eastern province, which is equally fertile, are sought after by global roasters who blend it with coffee from other nations.
"It is renowned for its acidity and aroma," says Charles Cardoso, chief executive of London-based commodities house Armajaro's operation in East Africa.
"Prices have been much higher and we expect that to be maintained in the next 12 months."
His view echoed that of another large African producer, Ethiopia. The head of its commodities exchange, Eleni Gabre-Madhin, told Reuters in February that prices would be high this year.
The benchmark AA grade of Kenyan coffee is at its highest since 1998.. The grade fetched a top price of $489 per 50-kg bag at the latest auction on Tuesday, from $446 per bag at the last sale held on June 22.
The top price for AA peaked at a record $702 per bag in late March.
Loise Njeru, managing director of regulator Coffee Board of Kenya, said the high quality of the coffee supported overall revenues.
Total earnings for the coffee year ending next month has already hit 10.2 billion Kenya shillings ($128 million) compared with 10.7 billion shillings for the whole of last year, Njeru said.
During the 2009/10 year, the board projects output will be 40,000 tonnes, down from 52,000 tonnes in the previous year.
Forecasts for the 2010/11 year were not ready, Njeru said, but she added that if there was favourable weather at the start of 2011, that could raise the fly crop, helping to partly offset falls in the October-January main crop.
"EARNINGS WILL GET BETTER"
That prediction was little comfort to farmers at the Gikanda cooperative like George Gicheru whose 15,000 kg harvest last year is in danger of nearly halving to 8,000 due to the rainy weather and leaf rust disease.
But he took comfort from higher prices which often translate to better earnings for farmers.
Farmers at the cooperative earned an average of 59.09 shillings per kg of coffee for their 2009/10 crop year, up from 33.24 shillings in the 2005/06 season.
Earnings were lifted by higher prices and a government rule that requires societies to pay out to farmers at least 80 percent of a cooperative's total earnings from the crop, chairman Muriuki said.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s the coffee industry suffered from mismanagement, prompting farmers who were fed up with non-payment for their crop to neglect their bushes or cut them down.
"Earnings will get better, those farmers who had abandoned coffee have started tending to their trees because they realised there was a change. That means if we have another two or three years of good earnings, output will also rise," Gicheru said.
The chairman of the 2,700 member Gikanda Farmers' cooperative said unseasonal rains at the start of this year were likely to cut production by about 10-20 percent in the 2010/11 (Oct-Sept) coffee year from about 2 million kg this year.
"It rained in January, February and March. Those are the three months we expect coffee trees to be stressed so they produce good flowers. This time they did not get that stress so the flowers aborted," Muriuki said in an office at one of the society's three factories.
Farmer George Gakuo who harvested 2,600 kg last year expected that to fall closer to 2,000 in the next crop year.
"Coffee did not blossom. That is the problem that was caused by the rain. But I expect we will get good prices due to the lower volumes," Gakuo said, standing among his 200 coffee bushes on a small plot, next to a busy highway, with the roar of passing vehicles in the background.
SOUGHT AFTER
Kenyan beans from farms in the area and in the neighbouring eastern province, which is equally fertile, are sought after by global roasters who blend it with coffee from other nations.
"It is renowned for its acidity and aroma," says Charles Cardoso, chief executive of London-based commodities house Armajaro's operation in East Africa.
"Prices have been much higher and we expect that to be maintained in the next 12 months."
His view echoed that of another large African producer, Ethiopia. The head of its commodities exchange, Eleni Gabre-Madhin, told Reuters in February that prices would be high this year.
The benchmark AA grade of Kenyan coffee is at its highest since 1998.. The grade fetched a top price of $489 per 50-kg bag at the latest auction on Tuesday, from $446 per bag at the last sale held on June 22.
The top price for AA peaked at a record $702 per bag in late March.
Loise Njeru, managing director of regulator Coffee Board of Kenya, said the high quality of the coffee supported overall revenues.
Total earnings for the coffee year ending next month has already hit 10.2 billion Kenya shillings ($128 million) compared with 10.7 billion shillings for the whole of last year, Njeru said.
During the 2009/10 year, the board projects output will be 40,000 tonnes, down from 52,000 tonnes in the previous year.
Forecasts for the 2010/11 year were not ready, Njeru said, but she added that if there was favourable weather at the start of 2011, that could raise the fly crop, helping to partly offset falls in the October-January main crop.
"EARNINGS WILL GET BETTER"
That prediction was little comfort to farmers at the Gikanda cooperative like George Gicheru whose 15,000 kg harvest last year is in danger of nearly halving to 8,000 due to the rainy weather and leaf rust disease.
But he took comfort from higher prices which often translate to better earnings for farmers.
Farmers at the cooperative earned an average of 59.09 shillings per kg of coffee for their 2009/10 crop year, up from 33.24 shillings in the 2005/06 season.
Earnings were lifted by higher prices and a government rule that requires societies to pay out to farmers at least 80 percent of a cooperative's total earnings from the crop, chairman Muriuki said.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s the coffee industry suffered from mismanagement, prompting farmers who were fed up with non-payment for their crop to neglect their bushes or cut them down.
"Earnings will get better, those farmers who had abandoned coffee have started tending to their trees because they realised there was a change. That means if we have another two or three years of good earnings, output will also rise," Gicheru said.
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