Due to new government policies, Kenya's coffee export volume fell 4% and production dropped 6.3%!

Source:Best Coffee > News Author:qjroot Published:2024-06-14 18:10:55

Recently, the United States Department of Agriculture released an update on Kenya’s coffee industry, a country in Africa. The report stated that due to a reduction in coffee cultivation area and decreased yields caused by earlier heavy rains, Kenya’s coffee production for the 2024/25 marketing year is estimated at 750,000 bags (60 kg per bag), a 6.3% decline from the previous marketing year. Coffee exports for the 2024/25 marketing year are also projected to fall by 4%, to 720,000 bags.

In addition, as part of the Kenyan government’s reforms, all payments for coffee sold through the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) must now be processed through the recently established Direct Settlement System (DSS) platform, which is managed by the Kenya Cooperative Bank.

Moreover, farmers are now required to process their coffee through the New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (NKPCU) or various processing factories owned and operated by cooperatives. This has led to some smaller factories experiencing backlog and logistical challenges, resulting in situations where some coffee cherries have rotted due to delayed processing.

This policy has also affected the export volume and price of Kenyan coffee. Since the reform began in July 2023, both coffee sales and prices at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (

Currently, the United States is the primary export destination for Kenyan coffee, followed by Belgium, Germany, South Korea, Sweden, and others. Since most of Kenya’s coffee export destinations outside the United States are European countries, exports to the EU are subject to the new deforestation-free regulation (⟦U12⟧EUDR⟦/U12⟧), which will prompt the Kenyan government to provide funding for the necessary land mapping.

Due to new government policies, Kenya's coffee export volume fell 4% and production dropped 6.3%!

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