Coffee farmers seek recruitment of more direct settlement service staff
Business
By
Boniface Gikandi
| Sep 17, 2024
Coffee farmers are seeking recruitment of additional operators in the direct settlement service (DSS) eyeing for improved remittance of their proceeds from the market.
The growers have petitioned Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya to initiate a process of recruiting additional DSS players to perfect coffee payment platforms and supplement efforts by the Cooperative Bank of Kenya.
The Kenya Coffee Producers Association (KCPA) has been spearheading farmers' interests towards implementing the coffee regulations 2019, to enable them to enjoy benefits.
READ MORE
Court of Appeal should abandon its obsession with procedure and its decisions
'This must stop': 2024 Gen Z protest families plan anniversary demos
It is not till death do you part, judge tells petitioner
New Sh4b project to spruce up Nanyuki's skyline
AG, Defence Council defend military deployment during 2024 Gen Z protests
Protest victims to be compensated from next week
How 4K Club is turning learners into champions of sustainable farming
Why Mbadi's Sh4.8tn budget is out of touch with 'hustlers'
Somali referee banned by US to officiate European Super Cup UEFA
KCPA Chairman Peter Gikonyo said the association has written to the regulators, which includes the recruitment of three additional players, to bring to an end the delay in the remittance of proceeds.
The association has listed down the challenges faced by the growers as they also demanded that they be paid in dollars as 75 per cent of the cooperative societies opened dollar accounts.
"In the past year, DSS has been performing below par, owing to being overwhelmed by thousands of transactions initiated by players in the value chain. The farmers have travelled to Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) and Capital Markets Authority (CMA) following the delay in receiving their money five days after the auction," said Gikonyo.
Harrison Chege, chairman at Gatagua Cooperative Society in Kahuro says the debate on additional DSS players has been rife since May when the coffee regulators held sensitisation meetings in the counties.
Chege said the performance of the DSS has been below the farmers' expectations, seeking the return of the former coffee milling and marketing procedures.
"I have severally been in meetings with players in the value chain, checking on their payments by the DSS, and ensuring all the payments to the farmers are affected," said Chege.
NCE Chief Executive Officer Ms Lisper Ndung'u downplayed the issues, saying the DSS platform manned by the Cooperative Bank has been effective.
"In case there are issues, the farmers call the regulators or visit the Cooperative Bank launch to lodge their complaints or seek clarifications about payments and deductions," said Ms Ndung'u.
Falling crude oil prices raise hope of relief at the pump
News of a deal to end the Iran-US war earlier this week has seen prices fall to below $100 per barrel for the first time in months.Kenya's first dollar-denominated green property fund oversubscribed as investors seek hard-currency returns
TRIFIC CEO Brenda Mbathi described the oversubscription as a strong endorsement of the quality of the underlying assets and the resilience of our business structure.Why US has beaten China to clinch Kenya's Sh9.7tr minerals deal
America has struck a preliminary minerals deal with Kenya, securing a foothold in one of the world’s largest untapped rare earth deposits worth about Sh9.7 trillion. The deal edges out China.From financing to procurement: Who is fooling whom in JKIA expansion deal?
The government has denied contracting controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo’s firm IMC Construction Kenya the contract to modernise and expand the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.Informed consumer is key to dealing with fake motor insurance certificates
Many victims are not intentionally breaking the law but are ordinary motorists who purchased insurance in good faith but were deceived by rogue and often unlicensed agents.MOST READ
- Kenya's first dollar-denominated green property fund oversubscribed as investors seek hard-currency returns
BUSINESS
By Brian Ngugi
- Why US has beaten China to clinch Kenya's Sh9.7tr minerals deal
ENTERPRISE
By Brian Ngugi
- From financing to procurement: Who is fooling whom in JKIA expansion deal?
BUSINESS