Outreach and Partnerships in the Coffee sector under the current governance

James Minai

KENYA AGRICULTURAL & LIVESTOCK RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONCOFFEE RESEARCH INSTITUTE

1. INTRODUCTIONFollowing the enactment of the Kenya Agriculturaland Livestock (KALR) act No.17on 25th Jan 2013,the Coffee research Foundation is now CoffeeResearch Institute under the Kenya Agriculturaland Livestock organization.

In order to disseminate research findingseffectively and showcase its research activitiesand services, CRI is partnering with variouscounty governments to undertake severalactivities in the counties

2. OUR REACH: ALL COFFEE GROWING AREAS

CENTRE AND SUB‐CENTRES

i. Kitale centreii. Namwela sub 

centre in Bungoma

iii. Kisii sub centre in Kisii

iv. Koru sub centre in Kericho / Kisumu 

v. Mariene sub centre in Meru

3. PARTNERSHIPS WITH COUNTY GOVERNMENTS(AREAS  WE ARE COLLABORATING WITH COUNTIES)

i. Training of County Agriculture staff and personnelfrom various coffee institutions in the counties

ii. Farmer trainings – collaborative efforts to capacitybuild farmers ability to enhance production

iii. County consultations and capacity building forpromotion of coffee expansion – several efforts CPP, ICPP, Boosting Coffee Productivity in Kenya andMalawi project and the County efforts to start off coffeenurseries Capacity building of county agric. staff and personnel incoffee nurseries

iv. County specific soil maps and recommendations

4. OUT REACHES AND PARNERSHIPS  IN VARIOUSCOUNTIES – YEAR 2014/2015

i. Farmer Field days and Members education days (MED). These were conducted in farmers’ fields in 21 counties East and west of Rift valley field trainings 

ACTIVITY NUMBER

ATTENDANCE BY  GENDER

RECOMMENDATIONS

Field days held

53 22.59% were women and 77.4 % men

Encourage women to 

attendsensitization meetings on CPP

12 Of those who attended 22.6 % were women and 

77.4% men

Encourage women to 

attend

Field day West of Rift – Nakuru County  

ii. Field advisory services – 38 cases were reported  by farmers from East and West  of Rift valley and attended to. ISSUES / PROBLEMS NOTED

PERCENTAGE 

COMMENTS ON ISSUES NOTED

Establishment  related Issues  ‐

15% Mainly Deep planting, root mealy bugs

Pests infestation 13% Mainly Thrips, mealy bugs and white borers

Poor flowering and or berry drop 

5 % Inadequate P application and extreme cold weather the course of two respectively

Coffee rehabilitation 26% Rehabilitation of neglected farms

General coffee management issues  

15% This includes pruning, nutrition , leaf fall

SL  variety                               BatianAdvisory visit observation – Gikanda FCS, Nyeri county

iv. Residential trainings – at KCC 2014/15   ‐ 42 sessions of various courses were conducted. The courses targeted different areas and personnel and were meant to capacity build stakeholders

COURSE PERCENTAGE  OFTOTAL (Demand)

TRAINEES COMMENTS

Factory management

10 % Factory managers  from societies in various counties

Nursery management

14% Nursery attendants mainly dealing with CPP project

Farm Management 

10% Mostly from Uasian Gishu, Nandi and  Elgeyo Maraket

Cupping 7% Trainings organized by KCPA

Other coffee related courses

12% Mainly form marketers and millers

v. Other activities undertaken in collaboration with counties       a) Farmer field schools – 53 sessions in 11 counties –

Kirinyaga, Meru, Tharaka Nithi,  Machakos, TaitaTaveta, Nandi, kericho, Homabay, Nakuru, Bomet

b) County Agriculture staff training – Elgeyo Marakwetcounty staff  ‐ financed full by the county Government 

c) Agricultural exhibitions and shows – 11 – Nairobi, Embu, Meru, Kitale, Kakamega, Nakuru and Eldoret

Farmer Field School – Mutira FCS, Kirinyaga County

County Agriculture staff training, Elgeyo ‐Marakwet County

Eldoret Ask Show ‐ 2015 

6. CENTERS AND SUB‐CENTERS ACTIVITIES Centre/Sub‐

centre

Advisory

visits

done

Field 

days

On‐

station

farmer

visits

Agricultural

shows/

exhibitions

Academ

ic visits

Total of

contact

forums

1. Kitale 41 29 14 6 1 91

2. Meru 7 Nil 11 1 Nil 19

3. Kisii 5 2 27 4 3 51

4. Koru 12 33 7 1 2 55

5. Namwela 41 24 18 3 17 93

Total 106 68 77 15 33 309

6. ISSUES NOTED DURING THE TRAININGS AND ADVISORY WORKa) Improper establishment during new plantings 

and infillings – deep planting hence drying after 3 years, root mealy bugs

b) Thrips damage during the dry weather needs to be monitored in order to  minimize the impact

c) Use of correct fertilizers is necessary to avoid poor flowering – especially due to P levels

7. RECCOMENDATIONS• Information on proper establishment can beobtained from CRI and is Centre and sub‐centersand KALRO website

• Pests monitoring and recording of infestationlevels should be done monthly

• Soil analyses every 2‐3 years will inform thefertilizer to be purchased

• Women participation during farmer trainingsneeds to be encouraged in all counties in orderto boost their knowledge in coffee farming

Thank you for listening