Kirinyaga coffee farmers are crying foul over rampant theft of their coffee, which they say has escalated due to soaring international prices.
The rising demand for the cash crop has attracted rogue brokers, who are now buying coffee directly from smallholder farmers, undermining cooperative societies and fuelling illegal trade.
Kirinyaga Central MP Gachoki Gitari confirmed receiving a list of 18 suspects believed to be behind the theft syndicates, which he has forwarded to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for immediate action.
Farmers say the thieves strike at night, harvesting even unripe berries and sometimes cutting down entire bushes before fleeing.
“That’s why they have even been cutting coffee bushes and fleeing with them,” Gitari lamented. “Those are unwise thieves because if you steal everything today, what will you steal tomorrow?”
He accused unscrupulous brokers of buying the stolen coffee at throwaway prices, discouraging honest farmers who have invested heavily in their farms this season.
“These people give youths cash on delivery, encouraging them to invade farms while residents sleep,” the MP said, calling for tighter security and more patrols in hotspots like Kiamuruga, where more than 20 theft cases have been reported.
Gitari urged County Commissioner Hussein Alasow to intensify night surveillance, warning that unchecked theft could cripple the coffee industry, which remains Kirinyaga’s economic backbone.
Kirinyaga County remains Kenya’s top coffee producer, followed by Nyeri and Murang’a. In the 2024–2025 season, Gachami Factory under the Baragwi Cooperative Society paid the highest rate of Ksh145 per kilo, with 27 of the county’s 75 factories paying over Ksh100 per kilo.
Farmers now hope security agencies will move swiftly to dismantle the cartels threatening their livelihoods.
