Agriculture in the Mount Kenya region is showing signs of recovery as government interventions to lower production costs, improve market access, and strengthen key value chains begin to benefit farmers.
Coffee, tea, and dairy farming are important sources of income for many families in Mt Kenya. However, farmers have faced high production costs, low and unpredictable earnings, and challenges getting a fair share of the money from their produce.
One of the key interventions has been the government’s subsidized fertilizer program, which has helped reduce the cost of crop production.
For coffee and tea farmers, lower fertilizer prices mean farmers can spend less on inputs and retain more of their earnings at the end of the production cycle.
The government has also introduced reforms in the coffee and tea sectors to improve transparency, strengthen farmer organizations, and reduce unnecessary intermediaries.
The reforms are intended to ensure farmers receive a greater share of the value generated from Kenya’s high-quality agricultural produce.
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Stronger cooperatives and improved market linkages are expected to help farmers earn more consistently from every litre of milk produced.
Speaking in a media interview, a farmer from Karatina Ward in Nyeri County said agriculture had been part of his life since childhood, having grown up in a farming family and learned to milk cows at the age of 10.
He said the dairy and coffee sectors had faced difficulties over the years, forcing some farmers to abandon coffee and turn to other enterprises, including horticulture.
According to the farmer, government regulations are helping improve standards in the agriculture sector, including ensuring that milk reaching consumers meets required quality standards.
He also pointed to access to financing through institutions such as the Agricultural Finance Corporation as an important form of support for farmers.
Government intervention in historical debts has also helped cushion some farmers from financial pressure, he said.
The farmer noted that agriculture is increasingly attracting young people, who are adopting technology and modern farming methods to improve productivity.
He cited the use of machinery, silage and milking machines as some of the changes transforming farming in the region.
Farmers in the area have also gained access to markets in Nairobi, Isiolo and Nanyuki. However, he said more investment was needed in aggregation infrastructure, particularly for milk, avocados and other perishable produce.
“When the government intervenes, there is a direct benefit to the beneficiaries. It has gone a long way in cushioning farmers. They have now gone back to farming as an enterprise, with machinery companies providing silage and milking machines. The people taking up this sector are mainly young people, and they are connected to the Nairobi market,” said the farmer.
Cheaper Fertilizer Boosts Coffee Farmer’s Returns
On his part, Coffee farmer Simon Mungei said the drop in fertilizer prices had significantly lowered his production costs and improved his returns.
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Mungei said a 50-kilogram bag of fertilizer that previously cost about KSh6,500 now costs about KSh2,500.
“The challenge we used to have was the high cost of fertiliser. We used to buy one 50kg bag for KSh6,500, but now it costs KSh2,500. That has really helped me. Where I used to apply three bags of fertiliser, I now only need one,”stated Mungei.
He said the reduction means that what one bag bought can now be purchased with two bags, allowing farmers to apply more fertilizer without increasing their expenditure.
According to Mungei, affordable fertilizer has benefited both his coffee and maize farming.
He said further reductions, potentially bringing the price to about KSh1,500 per 50-kilogramme bag, would provide even greater relief to farmers.
High fertilizer prices had previously eaten into farmers’ earnings when coffee payments were relatively low.
He recalled that farmers could receive about KSh40 to KSh50 for their coffee, compared with current payments of approximately KSh100 to KSh130.
With production costs falling and coffee earnings improving, Mungei said farmers can now retain more of the income generated from their farms.
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