Kenya coffee output likely to rise 4.4pc in 2016/17 crop year

02 Nov, 2016

NAIROBI: Kenya is likely to produce 47,000 metric tonnes of coffee in the 2016/17 (Oct-Sept) crop year, a rise of 4.4 percent on a year earlier as harvests from newly planted areas in the west offset the impact of dry conditions, the regulator said on Wednesday.

Kenya is a small coffee producer, accounting for just 1 percent of the world's annual crop, but roasters seek out its quality arabica beans to blend them with coffee from other regions. Coffee is one of Kenya's main foreign exchange earners.

The East African nation harvested 45,000 metric tonnes of coffee in the 2015/16 season, missing its target of 50,000 metric tonnes, as heavy rains interrupted production at the start of this year.

New fields would come into production in the western parts of the country, in places like Trans-Nzoia and Kericho, the Agricultural, Fisheries and Food Authority which regulates farming, told Reuters in a statement.

Copyright Reuters, 2016

Read Comments