Kesses Sub-County is set to expand its coffee-growing footprint, with 99,000 quality coffee seedlings being distributed to farmers under Uasin Gishu County’s 2026 ‘one-million coffee seedling program.’
The seedlings have the potential to establish approximately 99 acres of new coffee plantations, creating new opportunities for farmers to diversify their incomes through a high-value crop.
Governor Jonathan Bii Chelilim said the County Government is moving beyond seedling distribution to build a stronger coffee value chain through farmer training, extension support, cooperative development, processing and value addition.
Dr Bii also committed to facilitating more benchmarking visits for farmers to successful coffee farms across Kenya, enabling them to gain practical knowledge on modern production, processing, marketing and profitable coffee farming.
Deputy Governor Evans Kapkea said exposing farmers to successful coffee enterprises is an important part of building their capacity and transforming coffee farming into a profitable business.
Currently, Uasin Gishu has established about 3,000 acres of coffee, presenting significant economic potential for farmers. Based on an average yield of 150kg of coffee cherry per point of land and a selling price of Ksh 125 per kilogram, one point of land could generate approximately Ksh 18,750, translating to about Ksh 1.875 million per acre.
Across the current 3,000 acres, the coffee crop therefore represents a potential KSh 5.625 billion in gross coffee cherry value per harvest, underscoring the growing importance of coffee in the county’s agricultural transformation.
