Drought may cut Kenya's coffee output

Coffee plantation. Photo/ANTHONY KAMAU

By REUTERSPosted Thursday, October 15 2009 at 17:00

Kenya's coffee board expects a decline in production for the 2009/10 season following a prolonged drought, the chief executive of the board said.

Loise Njeru said the east African nation had projected an output of 54,000 tonnes of clean coffee in 2009/10, but said that might change because of a drought, which has ravaged the region.

Njeru did not give a new projected figure.

"If there will be El Nino rains, berries are likely to be split or impaired by the heavy downpour. This can affect production," Njeru told Reuters late on Wednesday.

She said there were fears of an outbreak of diseases such as Coffee Berry, brought on by cold weather.

Last year, the east African country produced 54,000 tonnes of clean coffee compared to 42,000 tonnes delivered by farmers previously.

The East African nation, whose coffee is popular with global roasters who blend it with coffee from elsewhere, netted Sh10.7 billion in 2008/09, up from Sh9.7 billion a year ago.

"Things are not that bad"

But some coffee farmers who spoke to Reuters in Nyeri, at the base of Mount Kenya where most of the country's coffee is grown, told Reuters they were expecting a reasonable harvest, despite the drought.

"The berries formed better than I expected since it has been dry for most parts of the year. The harvest may not be as good as it was last year, but things are not that bad," said Moses Githiaka a small-scale farmer.

"There are only a few berries, which are red. But most of them are yellow in colour. When it starts to rain, they will all turn red and this is the time that we shall start harvesting," the farmer said.

The El Nino rains are expected anytime according to weather experts, but some experts fear floods brought on by the rains would cause more damage.

In areas of Nyeri East district, coffee has started to ripen.

"If it starts to rain today I will start picking my coffee immediately. If I don't the ripe berries may start to rot," said Joseph Kinyua, another farmer.

But Njeru, said the rains may interfere with the flowering process.

"The rains will promote good flowering but if they are heavy they can make the flowers fall (off the tree)," she said.

To avert crisis, Njeru said the board will be sending a team to the coffee farms to do a forecasting and to advice farmers what to do in case the rains become destructive.

The small producers segment, which accounts for 65 per cent of coffee acreage and about 55 per cent of output, is troubled by high input costs and governance problems, Njeru said.

http://www.nation.co.ke/business/news/-/1006/672640/-/ifaiq6z/-/index.html