Kenyan coffee farmers now earn top dollar in global markets

A farmer picks coffee fruit at a plantation in Kirinyaga, central Kenya. [AFP]

Kenya’s specialty coffee has achieved top prices in various international niche markets as farmers shift to online trading, adopt artificial intelligence (AI) sampling of clean beans, and intensify the application of modern agricultural practices.

Recently, during a live online trading session at a Nairobi hotel organised by the African Coffee Trade Fair (ACT), local coffee estates and cooperative society farmers whose coffee met global standards fetched the best prices compared with the local auction.

Through a partnership between a local coffee exporter, Jabali the Coffee Company Ltd, and key international buyers, Kenyan farmers have had their coffee exposed to niche markets around the world, thus earning first-class prices for their clean coffee.

Luka Rotich, a manager with Jabali Coffee Company, said local farmers who are producing quality coffee are smiling all the way to the banks, as their produce is highly regarded internationally.

Jabali partnered three years ago with Foosung Corporation (FSCoffee), a South Korea-based importer of green coffee beans, to expose Kenyan coffee to various segments of the international market.

Under the collaboration, Kenyan coffee farmers have been directly connected to over 62 overseas buyers, boosting farmers’ morale to produce more coffee. Rotich further said ongoing reforms by the government have eased the process.

“We have interacted with international buyers through Kenyan embassies. So far, we have over 62 overseas buyers from Canada, the US, Japan, Hong Kong, the UAE, China, the UK and Korea, among others,” said Rotich during the third African Coffee Trade Fair (ACT) at the Nairobi hotel.

ACT is an international marketplace created to introduce carefully selected Kenyan coffee to buyers across the globe, especially the specialty coffee community.

“In the financial year 2023-2024, we realised that Kenyan top-quality coffees were not known in key segments of the world market, especially in emerging markets such as China, Japan, and Korea. Why was it not known? It was because most of Kenya’s coffees were imported and blended with other coffees from other markets – Brazil, Colombia, and Vietnam – thus losing its uniqueness,” added Rotich.

Since the first online trade in 2024, the price per kilo has increased by 242 per cent, from $35 per kilo to yesterday’s highest price of $120 per kilo of coffee offered by Ngacha Coffee Estate, a family-owned coffee farm in Kenya’s Kirinyaga County.

Kenya is globally known for producing fine Arabica coffee that fetches a high premium, with most Arabica beans grown largely in the Mt Kenya Region, the Rift Valley, Western Kenya, the lower Eastern, and the Taita Taveta regions.

“Therefore, as a licensed coffee exporter by the government, we noticed the hat gap and started a process to directly connect Kenyan coffee farmers with international buyers. The engagement also demanded live online trading after approval of coffee samples by the coffee directorate,” said Rotich.

To avoid the high cost of inviting buyers physically into the country and sending samples, Rotich confirmed that AI sampling was introduced, resulting in online trading.

A Korean company, Profile Print Foot Tech, is undertaking AI sampling of clean coffee, which is much less time- and cost-intensive than presenting physical coffee lots for sampling.

The engagement also commenced with the sourcing of coffee samples from estates and cooperative societies starting in 2024, which are later vetted at the grassroots level and then at the national coffee laboratory located at the coffee directorate.

In 2026, over 300 samples were received from various cooperative societies and estates, of which 22 were approved.

Online trading has made it easier for selected local farmers to interact with international buyers and earn high premiums. Growers who have adhered to good agricultural practices stand to benefit significantly in terms of top prices from the global market.

Josephine Njoki of JOTIM Coffee Limited, which markets coffee for Kiguta Estate in Nyeri County, said live online trading is a game-changer, offering the best prices and global exposure. “As Kiguta Estate, we are renowned around the world for producing very high-quality coffee. So the live online auction is of great help, as it gives us a platform to interact deeply with the bidders around the world. So, to participate in ACT’s editions, we had to submit our samples, which honestly qualified as per the marketer parameters,” said Njoki during the third ACT edition in Nairobi.

She added that her company trades in premium coffee grades, including washed coffees, traditionally washed coffees, AA and AB, and natural coffees.

Ngacha Coffee Estate, a family-owned coffee farm in Kenya’s Kirinyaga County, achieved the highest price of $120 per kilo.

The estate is recognised for producing award-winning, high-quality Kenyan coffee, with a focus on specialty processes such as Red Honey, Anaerobic Natural, and experimental lots. Martin Mwangi, the head of the business, hailed the international buyers for their confidence in Kenyan coffee.

“I am very proud of this occasion because it shows us, even without seeing the face of the buyer, that they have faith in what they have been given as a sample lot against what we have. And with that, they have tested it,” said Mwangi.

He called on Kenyan coffee farmers to embrace modern agricultural practices to gain access to niche global markets and thus earn premium prices.