Coffee earnings are reported to have dropped by KSh3 billion in the 11 months to August 2019. This was according to the Nairobi Coffee Exchange market report. By the end of the month of August, the earnings were at Ksh 11 billion compared to the Ksh14 billion earned the previous year in the same period.
According to the Nairobi Coffee Exchange Chief Executive Officer Daniel Mbithi, the low earnings were attributed to the consistent trend of low prices in New York. This was due to the lowering of prices of New York Terminal that touched a low of 86 cents per pound in 2019 compared to a high of 120 cents per pound last year.
The coffee directorate has been campaigning to have local consumers increase the consumption of coffee and thereby lower over-reliance on international markets. Kenya has one of the best coffee in the world although its production had declined over the past few years due to farmers not growing coffee anymore because of poor management.
