Kinyua said the Board operates under the Coffee Act 2026, signed by President William Ruto in March. The law shifts regulatory and commercial oversight from the Agriculture and Food Authority to the re-established Coffee Board and creates an independent Coffee Research and Training Institute. The Board has three mandates: developing, promoting and regulating the sector.
The Act offers four ways to sell coffee: the Nairobi Coffee Exchange, where about 80% of coffee is currently traded; direct sales; an international exchange; and any other method set by the Cabinet Secretary.
Kinyua said payments through the Direct Settlement System reach farmers within five days, and that the New KPCU has set up a Coffee Cherry Advance Revolving Fund. The new season brings a second bank, Stanbic, into the system alongside Co-operative Bank. He said coffee-sector debts are being handled by the Ministry of Cooperatives, which has budgeted for them.
The 2025/26 market closed on September 30 with a final auction earning Ksh841.3 million from 17,765 bags, with the previous sale averaging about Ksh44,462 per 50kg bag.
County Executive Calvert Njeru, representing Governor Anne Waiguru, said Kirinyaga’s coffee output rose from 32.3 million kilogrammes in 2017 to 49.1 million last year, earning the county Ksh7.4 billion. The county allocated Ksh50 million to extend the union’s parchment store. Kirinyaga has 14 cooperatives and 74 factories.
Kirinyaga Cooperative Union chairman Geoffrey Kinyua Munyagia cited a shortage of improved planting materials, especially for young people and women, and the high cost of fertiliser, inputs and processing equipment. He said farmers who have relied on auctions now want to sell directly to consumers. Direct sales have shown promise: at the 2026 African Coffee Trade Fair, top lots fetched up to $120 per kilogramme.
