New Kenyan coffee plant already proving its worth

For years coffee farmers and growers in the rural counties of Makueni and Machakos have had to put up with a poor infrastructure. With no modern facilities to use and a poor road network, people have been forced to travel, at their own cost, across the country to processing plants and specialist millers.

Obviously, this doesn’t come free and there are reports that some farmers have been priced out of the industry.

But, that’s all about to change. Nearly $950,000 has been poured into the region to create the Ukambani coffee milling plant, a brand new state-of-the-art facility that will act as a hub for the farmers in the neglected parts of Eastern Province. After a lengthy building process, which first began a couple of years ago, the building is now fully operational.

Felix Kilonzi, a farmer affiliated with the Mitaboni Coffee Society, has seen the value of his harvest increase: “Our cooperative society delivered the best coffee last year.

“We are very happy with the establishment of this mill because we are no longer going to be short-changed or continue to suffer because of high transport costs,” he said.

Because the mill is local, transport times and costs have been cut down, which was one of the biggest problems prior to the Machakos Town plant being opened. Aside from fuel costs, the time spent on the road wasn’t good for the quality of the coffee and much of it lost value on the long and bumpy cross-country journeys.

“Our coffee used to [be classed as] Grade C,” said Patrick Katingima, the Lower Eastern Coffee Millers chairman.

“But now two coffee societies from Mitaboni have recorded a Class 2.”

Proof, if it were needed, that the mill is already working its magic.