Embu farmers threated to pull out of Sh100m coffee mill project

Twenty three cooperative societies in Embu County have threatened to pull out of a Sh110 million coffee mill project unless it is operated as a cooperative society.

They coffee societies want Murue Coffee Society who initiated the mill construction, to cede demands to own 60 per cent stake at the mill.

Speaking during a meeting bringing together the chairpersons of all county coffee societies, cooperative officials, Coffee Board of Kenya officials, the stakeholders agreed to register the mill as a cooperative so that no society would have more than 20 per cent shares as per the Cooperatives Act.

The coffee societies officials said allowing Murue society to own 60 per cent shares will give it power to control all the decisions.

New Kieni Coffee Society chairman Charles Kariuki wondered why one company wants to have a higher stake yet they did not produce corresponding coffee volume.

He said though the society had kicked off the project, they should approach the project as equal partners and be compensated for their work following an audit.

Mr Kariuki said they expect to be presented with a valuation report detailing the cost of the milling machine and that of the construction works so that they can begin purchasing the shares of the mill.

“They definitely need us if they are to sustain the mill and they will have to heed to our demands. These misunderstandings have staggered the ongoing construction of the mill.

We expect to use the mill next year and thus need an amicable solution to this issue soon,” said Mr Kariuki.

The official called on Governor Martin Wambora to intervene saying they were ready to start their own mill project if Murue did not cede ground.

However, Murue chairman John Muriuki stood his ground saying they had already spent over Sh30million on the project and provided land for its construction.

“We decided to start our own mill to reduce our costs and have more profit for our farmers. We applied for marketing and milling licenses and they were granted.

The project is worth Sh110 million and we have provided land at Kavutiri and done constructions worth Sh30million using members funding,” Mr Muriuki explained.

He said his society would convene a meeting to seek solutions into the demands pushed by the other societies.

Embu County coffee Advisory officer Stephen Kamau observed that coffee production of Embu County which produces an average 17.5 million metric kilograms of coffee in a year cannot sustain the mill which has a capacity to process 245,500 metric tons annually and thus urged for increased coffee production in the area to make milling more profitable.

He urged the societies invest more on educating coffee farmers on how to increase volumes and improving on the quality of production.

“To make milling profitable, the societies should focus on proper branding, packaging and marketing so as to increase its demand in both local and regional markets.

This can only be achieved if societies unite in both productions, milling and marketing but not wrangling on shareholding and ownership of the mill,” said Mr Kamau.