Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, on Saturday, June 10, was impressed by a farmer based in Meru who transformed his father's gift into a thriving coffee business empire.
According to the second in command, Charles Mutwiri set the pace in the coffee business in Meru through his profitable venture despite current market challenges.
Detailing his success story, Gachagua narrated that Mutwiri was bequeathed a land with 150 coffee bushes when he was 17.
Despite lacking formal employment, he expanded the enterprise to about 30 acres of coffee bushes.
The farmer also established his factory where he mills his produce, ranging from 150,000 kilos to 200,000 kilos a season.
"Mutwiri's coffee story begins in the 1980s with 150 coffee bushes bequeathed to him by his father. Meticulously, he has grown his venture to about 30 acres of coffee bushes," Gachagua lauded the entrepreneur.
Besides setting up his processing factory, Gachagua revealed that Mutwiri had embarked on offering voluntary training to revitalise the coffee sector in the country.
"Charles Mutwiri, aka Mkarimu, has extended his wealth of coffee farming experience to thousands of farmers across the nation through voluntary training," the former Mathira MP added.
Following their meeting, Gachagua vowed to eliminate trade barriers which had made coffee prices plummet, affecting agriculture in the country.
Gachagua admitted that cartels had invaded the coffee sector depriving the farmers of their rightful earnings. He thus pledged to launch a crackdown to capture perpetrators.
On Friday, June 9, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi vowed to revoke the licences of multinational companies taking advantage of coffee farmers.
Linturi acted following concerns raised by Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire, who accused multinational firms of dominating the coffee sector from milling to marketing.
"We cannot allow this to happen. If they want to take me to court, they can do it. We will sit down and revoke those licences so that we have a way to end that cartel nature," Linturi responded to Mbarire's concerns.
Gachagua's move to reform the sector came after President William Ruto placed the docket under his jurisdiction. While accepting the extra duties, Gachagua vowed to eliminate all the trade malpractices.
