By Fatuma Rashid
Laikipia County is shifting focus to coffee farming as a strategy to boost rural incomes and cushion farmers against climate change and poor cereal prices.
County Secretary, Koinange Wahome said while crops such as maize, beans and wheat remain important for food security, they no longer offer the economic value that farmers deserve.
“It’s time we rethink our approach to farming. There is growing global demand for coffee, and Laikipia is well-positioned to benefit,” he stated.
Agronomists say the region has the right altitude, soils and climate needed for coffee to compete internationally.
Mr Koinange was speaking in Oljabet-Marmanet Ward during the distribution of 28,000 certified, fast-maturing coffee seedlings to local farmers.
The event is part of the county’s agriculture diversification drive aimed at promoting agribusiness and building climate-resilient livelihoods.
“Unlike cereals, which suffer from unstable and often low market prices, coffee offers better returns, requires less labour, and is more resilient in changing weather conditions,” he said.
The exercise was presided over by Governor Joshua Irungu, who reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to making coffee the backbone of Laikipia’s agricultural transformation.
He said the county is setting up 10 coffee nurseries expected to produce 10 million seedlings by 2026, tailored to the county’s diverse ecological zones.
The shift to coffee comes as counties across the country face increasing pressure to diversify away from traditional staples vulnerable to climate shocks and fluctuating market prices.
“The national government and my administration are working together to lay the foundation for a coffee-led economic revival,” the governor said.
He said the goal is to empower farmers, strengthen cooperatives and support inclusive, grassroots economic growth.
Last month, Co-operatives and MSMEs Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya launched the Coffee Revival and CCARF Sensitisation Programme at Kinamba Market Gorunds.
The CS pledged to deploy officers for extension services, cooperative development and field monitoring, a move the governor said was key to the success of coffee farmers.
As productivity increases, the governor revealed, the County will partner with the national government to set up a local coffee milling facility.
“This will allow for value addition, spur innovation, create jobs and grow the local economy,” he said.
So far, the County has distributed free seedlings of drought resilient, high yielding and fast maturing coffee varieties to farmers in Githiga, Marmanet, Sossian, Ngobit and Igwamiti Wards.
“An acre of maize would fetch Sh30,000 but now, the same under coffee gives me Sh240,000 annually,” said Peter Kimani, an established coffee farmer at Tandare Village in Githiga Ward.
Coffee farmers in Laikipia have risen from 398 in 2023 to 1,117 in 2025, with Githiga Ward in Laikipia West alone accounting for 624 active growers.
New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union Managing Director, Timothy Mirugi, speaking at a recent event, said demand for Kenyan coffee remains high.
“We have already sold all deliveries from last season and are currently dispatching this season’s harvest,” he noted.