Coffee is the second most valuable traded commodity after oil in the world, with an estimated $200 billion recorded in international trade in the 2012/2013 period. The Coffee Boardof Kenya (Now Coffee Directorate) reported that the Kenya coffee export revenues in 2009/2010 amounted to KES 16 Billion. As at March 2014, the average price of a 50kg bag ofcoffee sold at USD 243 (Ksh24, 300) at the NairobiCoffeeExchange.Coffee was once Kenyas leading foreign exchange earner before rampant mismanagement of the coffee industry began in the late 1990s. Production has steadily declined over theyears; from an all-time high of about 130,000 metric tons in 1987/88 to an average of 50,000 metric tonnes per annum. This has been attributed to serious mismanagement of thecoffee sector, rising cost of inputs, poor prices and low productivity. Most coffee cooperative societies lack proper governing and management structures. In addition, most farmersand cooperative societies still employ conventional modes of farming and processing that result in reduced productivity and production of coffee. Lack of effective interventionshas also led to a reduced productivity and production of coffee which has affected the overall earnings in the coffee industry. Consequently, many farmers have abandoned coffeefarming activities and resulted to uprooting their coffee trees and putting their land to other use.

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