Kenya’s Coffee Exports Goes Up By 17.5% in 3rd Quarter

By Xinhua 

November 16, 2023

Kenya’s coffee exports sustained an upward trend in the third quarter (Q3) with the volume of shipments rising 17.5 percent boosting earnings as compared to a similar period in 2022, the Central Bank said Thursday in a new economic report.

Kenya exported 14,372 tonnes of coffee worth 10 billion shillings (about 65.64 million U.S. dollars) during the period, an increase from 12,236 tonnes worth 59 million dollars in a similar period in 2022, according to the apex bank.

During the three months under review, a tonne of Kenyan coffee was sold at an average of 4,571 dollars, a decline from 4,903 dollars in a similar period in 2022, said the bank.

The rise in shipments as well as earnings from the sector come amid reforms instituted by the Kenya government, which has seen farmers get affordable loans from a 26 million dollars Coffee Cherry Fund to boost production.

Kenyan President William Ruto said on Nov. 9 during his State of the Nation address that these reforms would double coffee output from the current 50,000 metric tonnes annually in the next four years.

Kenya earned 145 million dollars from exporting a volume of 31,359 tonnes of coffee in the first six months of the year, an increase from 139 million dollars from 27,154 tonnes in a similar period in 2022, according to the apex bank.

Coffee is one of Kenya’s top foreign exchange earners, besides tea and horticulture.