Kenya recorded a 9% rise in the earnings received from coffee in 2021 compared to the previous year despite recording a decline in the quantities exported . The increase was attributed to the rise in global prices of the commodity.
According to a report by the government statistics agency, Kenya earned Ksh 24.2 billion ($213 million) in the period January to November 2021, with the value surpassing the entire 2020 earnings that stood at $196 million.
During the 2021 trading period, Kenya’s coffee prices ranged from 4 dollars to 6.3 dollars, up from 2.5 dollars to 5.9 dollars in 2020, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
However, despite the rise in earnings, the quantity of the commodity exported declined as production continued to decline for the second consecutive year.
Kenya exported 35,163 metric tons (MT) of coffee in the first 11 months of 2021, a decline from 40,980 MT in a similar period in 2020, according to KNBS. KNBS said that with the country exporting an average of 2,500 MT of the commodity a month, the export quantities in 2021 would not surpass the 2020 figures.
Kenya’s production of the commodity has been on a decline as many farmers take to other crops in particular avocado and macadamia while others sell their farmlands to real estate developers due to various challenges.
Kenya is the fifth largest producer of coffee in Africa, coming after Ethiopia (7.38 million 60 kg bags), Uganda (5.62 million bags), Cote d’Ivoire (1.78 million bags) and Tanzania (913,000 bags).
The country produces an average of 800,000 bags of coffee annually, according to the International Coffee Organization.
Read also; Uganda’s Coffee Exports Earnings Hit $657 Million.
