By Sandra Blessing
In a move aimed at promoting and enhancing coffee farming in Uasin Gishu, the county government has developed a digital platform for farmers.
The county has taken a major step toward modernizing its coffee program following the launch of the Coffee Mkulima Portal, a digital platform designed to track seedlings and enhance farmer support services.
Developed by the County ICT Department, the portal replaces manual record-keeping with a smart, GPS-enabled system that tracks coffee seedlings from the nursery to the farmer and ultimately to the field.
The system is expected to improve transparency, accountability and efficiency in the county’s expanding coffee sector.
Deputy Governor Evans Kapkea, when he spoke at the launch, said the platform was designed to be practical, accessible and farmer-centred.
He said the portal will provide growers with critical information, including soil-zone maps, planting records, rainfall risk alerts, pest and disease hot-spot updates and market access routes through Geographic Information System (GIS) integration.
Kapkea also announced the start of a three-day training program for farmers and extension officers to facilitate the adoption of the system.
Uasin Gishu Governor Dr. Jonathan Bii said ongoing reforms in the coffee sector are aimed at increasing yields from an average of 2 kilograms per tree to 10 kilograms, while raising Kenya’s national coffee production from about 50,000 metric tons to 102,000 metric tons within the next two years.
He urged farmers to take advantage of the ongoing long rains by returning to their farms for planting, even as the government intensifies efforts aimed at boosting agricultural productivity and improving farmer incomes.
The governor emphasized the importance of close collaboration between county governments and the national government in strengthening agricultural value chains, supporting farmers with inputs and expanding market opportunities.
Governor Bii also revealed that fertilizer distribution for the current planting season is progressing well, with the North Rift region already receiving 1.1 million bags out of the 3.8 million bags targeted nationwide.
