Kenya Coffee Producers Association appreciates that research is a key component for effective lobbying to provide accurate information on issues and realistic action plan to address the issues. The Association has therefore in partnership with her development partners, heavily invested on research to info her advocacy initiatives.

The following are some of the studies the organization has undertaken, presented to stakeholders for validation and the lobby and advocacy initiatives that have resulted from the studies –

• A study to understand the risks and expenses borne by the coffee farmers along the entire coffee value chain
• An analysis of policies and laws in the coffee industry to assess their impact on coffee farmers and growth of the industry.
• An analysis of farmer representation in farmer decision making bodies such as Coffee Research Institute, Coffee Directorate and Nairobi Coffee Exchange. Research informed lobby initiatives for farmer representation in decision making bodies in the coffee value chain
• A study on taxation in the coffee value chain
• A recent study on the Cooperatives Act and its contribution to the current status of the coffee industry in Kenya to establish the appropriateness, relevance, effectiveness and gaps with in the Act in relation to coffee production and gender on farmer groups’ management in Kenya with respect to small holder coffee farming system in Kenya.

Projects outcome

• Farmers successfully secured 5 slots in Nairobi Coffee Exchange management board
• Coffee sample size needed for the auction was reduced from 14kgs to 9kgs.
• A policy position paper on coffee taxation was developed and presented to the Cabinet Secretary – Ministry of Agriculture for the reduction of levies in coffee. This bore fruits when the National Task Force on Coffee Sub Sector Reforms pushed the same agenda in 2016.
• A policy position paper on the gaps identified on the Cooperatives Act 2012 has been developed