The government of Kenya is planning to lend cash to coffee farmers in a bid to revive the sector that was once a leading foreign exchange earner but is now on the death bed.
The Ministry of Industrialization is now setting up a Sh3 billion fund that will advance affordable credit to small scale coffee farmers in order to boost production and quality of the cash crop.
The Coffee Cherry Advance Revolving Fund will give loans at a rate of 3% to coffee farmers affiliated to different cooperatives, including the Kenya Planters Cooperative Union.
The amount to be given to each farmer will depend on the quanity of coffee thy produce.
The ministry has already published draft regulations that are expected to set up the fund and is currently seeking opinion from the public and industry players.
Farmers interested in the loans will have to be members of cooperative societies to access the money.
