MP Moses Kuria tabling Bill to ban raw coffee exports.
Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria is scheduled to table a bill in
the National Assembly that, if passed, will make it illegal to export raw
coffee beans from the country.
Through a post on his
social media platform on Friday morning, Kuria told the public that he would soon
seek their input into the matter through public participation once the Coffee
Bill 2018 was ready.
“Soon I will come to you for public participation. Once the
Coffee Bill 2018 becomes law, it will be illegal to export Kenyan coffee in raw
beans form,” Kuria said in his post.
According to the legislator, all coffee exporters will be
expected to fully process, pack and brand Kenyan coffee before shipment and
label the same with a “Made in Kenya” mark.
Kuria attributed his education to the proceeds obtained by
his parents courtesy of the coffee industry thus vowed that he would do
everything possible to revive the sector in order to ensure millions of
children born of coffee farmers got the same privilege as he did.
“We (Kenya) banned the export of raw nuts from Kenya without a
fuss. Sasa nisisikie makelele,” he said.
Coffee has in the past been referred to as black gold but since
the 1980s, the Kenyan coffee industry has been going through tough
times as the farmers continue experiencing great losses.
(Related story: Thika MP Tables a bill to regulate imports, boost job creation.)
Man-made challenges have since been at the center of most of its woes and these are occasioned by less than harmonious interactions and interests between key stakeholders including cooperative societies, the Coffee Board and Coffee Millers and marketers who have led to controversies and even conflicts. From coffee smuggling syndicates of the 1970’s fondly referred to as the coffee boom to the price boom of 2011 which led to record prices for farmers and an equal escalation of coffee theft in farms, in stores and in transit claiming fatalities from the ravenous coffee robbers.
Man-made challenges have since been at the center of most of its woes and these are occasioned by less than harmonious interactions and interests between key stakeholders including cooperative societies, the Coffee Board and Coffee Millers and marketers who have led to controversies and even conflicts. From coffee smuggling syndicates of the 1970’s fondly referred to as the coffee boom to the price boom of 2011 which led to record prices for farmers and an equal escalation of coffee theft in farms, in stores and in transit claiming fatalities from the ravenous coffee robbers.
Coffee is primarily produced by small-scale farmers who lack
the ability to negotiate for better trading and working conditions. Cartels have
taken advantage of this gap to infiltrate the coffee market and exploited them
for decades.
The primary farmer has been living in darkness over how the
proceeds from their sweat is derived at. Transparency and accountability from production
to the final consumer is top secret.
Considering all these, the Kuria bill could end being the
saviour to coffee farmers in Kenya.
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