Kenya and Colombia are set to sign agreements to facilitate knowledge exchange on coffee farming and research, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua announced on Thursday, February 29.
The Deputy President said the two nations are preparing to strike a formula that will facilitate cooperation between Kenya's Coffee Research Institute and its equivalent body in Colombia.
"The Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) will create a framework for interventions that the government is deploying to restore the coffee sub-sector. Coffee farmers in Colombia are our big brothers," remarked Gachagua.
According to the Deputy President, the MoUs will be signed within the next three months.
Read More
The Deputy President spoke at the Official Residence, Karen, when he hosted visiting members of the Colombia National Federation of Coffee Growers and a team working on the Kenya-Colombia Technical Cooperation on Coffee Value Chain.
"On our cooperative movement, we would like it to embrace the model of the Colombia National Federation of Coffee Growers. We are amending the Cooperatives Act to deal with integrity issues and create transparent and accountable systems. A strong cooperative movement is good for the sector, farmers, and the country," Gachagua stated.
According to CS Chelugui, the MoUs will touch on collaboration on research (fighting of coffee diseases), management of coffee farming process by CRI and the Colombia coffee growers federation.
The Colombian delegation has been in the country for five days.
Data from the State Department of Cooperatives indicate that there are 28,000 registered cooperatives in Kenya and a membership surpassing 14 million.
