Huye coffee farmers decry low prices, call for govt intervention

Coffee farmers in Huye District, Southern Province have decried the low prices at which processors are buying the crop.“We spend a lot of money on workers and other activities, but the returns are minimal compared to the efforts and resources we invest in,” Alphonsine Dusabimana, a resident in Maraba sector, Huye District, said.“Last season, I spent Rwf160,000 on the coffee plantation, but earned just Rwf130,000. This is discouraging. In fact, some farmers are abandoning the crop in favour of food crops,” said Dusabimana, a mother of five.The demoralised farmers said in 2011, a kilogramme of green parchment coffee cost Rwf250, then it dropped to Rwf180 and presently it goes for Rwf143.Philip Murengezi, a farmer in Simbi sector, urged the government to compel coffee processors to buy from farmers at a better price. “We need to have stable and better prices. Presently, it is as if we are working for coffee processors,” Murengezi said.Murengezi added that if this trend continues, coffee farmers will never improve their livelihoods.Better quality neededAccording to Celestin Gatarayiha, the head of coffee division at the National Agriculture Export Board (NAEB), farmers need to improve quality to be paid better prices. He added that the prices are always fixed according to international market trends.“Coffee prices keep fluctuating on the global market, but if they (farmers) increase production and quality they will earn handsomely,” he saidHe said NAEB is sensitising the farmers on how to improve quality, and is providing them with fertilisers and other inputs to boost production.Gatarayiha noted that it is important for Rwandan farmers to increase output to take advantage of the high demand on the international market for the country’s coffee.Coffee exports are expected to generate $157m by 2017, compared to $87m expected from the targeted 24,000 tonnes of the crop this year. Rwanda earned $60.9m from coffee last year, which was an 18.4 per cent decline compared to the $74.6m earned in 2011.

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Huye coffee farmers decry low prices, call for govt intervention