Farmers want to end coffee auction.

KENYA -- Small scale coffee farmers from the giant Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (KPCU) wants to get rid of the weekly Nairobi coffee auction, reports The East African Standard. Instead, they want a liberal coffee marketing system that would enable them to sell their beans to roasters directly without going through auction house. The demand came as cooperatives minister Njeru Ndwiga ruled out the possibility of registering additional marketing agents and the elimination of the auction system as had been suggested by the Gatandu North Legislator Patrick Muiruri.

Currently, there are three marketing agents including KPCU, Thika Coffee Mills and Scofinaf. During KPCU's Annual General meeting held recently, the farmers unanimously supported the elimination of the auction system as suggested by Muiruri. Muiruri, who was invited to address the farmers by Ndwiga, accused the auction dealers of short-changing farmers. He said there was no justification for buying the same grades of coffee from different farmers and paying differently for the same quality as is being done by some of the dealers.

"These people will buy grade AB from me at $100 but during the subsequent auction, they will but the same at $70. Is this not cheating?" he asked. Ndqiga said the government was gathering evident on the behavior of the auctioneers and will act on it promptly. "There is enough evidence that whereas roasters are paying good prices for the auction, the auctioneers are deliberately depressing the prices in order to raise their profit margins," said Ndwiga. The minister disagreed, saying that the auction system was relevant as a "value realization market."