Coffee farmers eye shares in new mill

Coffee farmers from Machakos and Makueni counties have resolved to buy shares in the newly opened Lower Eastern coffee mill.

During a one-day workshop on leadership hosted by the Machakos Co-operative Union sponsored by We-Effect, a Swedish organisation supporting co-operative movements in Kenya, the farmers agreed to raise a minimum of Sh400 each to buy the shares.

The chairman of the union Patrick Katingima told the farmers that the shares would boost the young mill significantly.

“If you raise the required shares, the mill would acquire a national status and compete with mills from others regions in the country,” said Katingima.

The farmers however urged the union management to look for financiers who can boost their farming, arguing that the current ones were too expensive. They commended the union and the mill management for providing solid leadership.

The farmers called upon the Machakos County government to honour its pledge of providing a standby generator, which it promised two years ago.

“We hope the county meant business when it pledge to provide us with a generator,” said Katiku Nduku, a coffee farmer.