Young farmers in Kenya are “losing their patience” with coffee and venturing into other enterprises or moving to cities, according to a study by scientists from the World Agroforestry Centre.

The observed decline in coffee production among smallholder farmers is due to a number of factors, including the collapse of the International Coffee Agreement (ICA) in the 1980s, lack of access to credit, inadequate transportation and communication, poor banking infrastructure and poorly managed cooperatives.

Sammy Carsan, a researcher on farm diversification and seed-seedling supply systems with the World Agroforestry Centre, who conducted the study around the Mount Kenya region, found that amid unstable coffee prices, farmers are diversifying into maize, banana, apple and tree growing.

Currently, coffee is cultivated on about 170,000 hectares with more than 600,000 small scale farmers each owning less than two hectares. There are 3,270 estates with farms of between two to 20 hectares. Coffee was Kenya's main foreign exchange earner until 1989 when it was overtaken by tourism. Earnings have since taken a downward trend and coffee now ranks fourth after tourism, tea and horticulture.

Carsan believes it will take more than price increases to motivate farmers to increase coffee production. “There is need for increased awareness by policy makers on coffee production trends and a need to promote enterprises that are of benefit to farmers."

Read the full story: Study Explains Why Farmers Lost Patience With Coffee