Coffee Farmers Feel the Trading System between Kenya and Europe has been Stacked against them for Many Years
A Kenyan coffee farmer carefully harvests ripe coffee cherries from lush coffee plants.
A coffee tree is a huge investment for cash-strapped farmers, as it can take four years for the fruits to mature. The price of a single cup of coffee in a chic European café, typically $4, highlights a stark disparity when compared to the earnings of many Kenyan coffee labourers, who make at most $2.30 a day. To produce a single cup of coffee can require up to 140 litres of water – including the water to grow the plants. But higher temperatures and changing rainfall patterns mean a decreasing water supply for coffee farmers in Kiambu County. To protect the industry, coffee farmers in areas like Komothai are experimenting with climate adaptation techniques, such as planting trees to provide extra shade for the coffee plants.