Coffee Board of Kenya Monthly Bulletin October 1986

Abstract

Mr.Chairman,fellow delegates,ladies and gentlemen.Coffee is the most important cash crop in this country and we hope it will remain so for many years to come.A study done by the Coffee Research Foundation,economic section,in 1983 revealed that about 60% of plantations have no formal obligations. It also revealed that these farms were not making any profit;the main reasons for this were the heavy mortgage commitments arising from the fact that these farms were bought soon after the 1976-77 boom at very high prices.The world prices fell sharply soon after the effect of which placed a heavy burden on these farms because of the high cost of borrowing money to maintain the heavy mortgages.