Coffee farming [Photo: Altos Coffee]
Coffee prices jumped by 83 dollars in last week’s sale to a high of 265 dollars from 182 dollars in the previous sale.
The Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) has attributed the rise in prices to the high demand of the commodity.
It however says the increased coffee prices come at a time when farmers are struggling with the high cost of farm inputs.
A 50Kg bag of fertilizer now costs 6000 shillings marking a 71 percent increase from fertilizer prices in 2021.
Similarly, the shortage of planting materials such as coffee seeds has slowed the sector’s performance.
This in turn contributes to the lack of quality beans at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange.
“There was high demand for coffee during the sale with some traders not even getting whatever they wanted because of low supplies,’’ said NCE CEO Daniel Mbithi.
NCE further says the high inflation might triggered low purchasing power which will constrain the coffee sector.
Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that Kenya’s annual inflation rate rose to 7.9% in June from 7.1% in May 2022, marked as the highest level of Kenya’s inflation rate since August 2017.
“The rise in Kenya’s inflation was mainly due to increase in prices of commodities under; food and non-alcoholic beverages (13.8 per cent); and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (6.8 per cent) between June 2021 and June 2022,” said KNBS.
A newsmaker, reporter and anchor at Pearl Radio, Ndalilah Sharon is witty and savvy.
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