Oparanya vows to crush cartels as coffee reforms enter final stretch
By Kiprono Keileb, October 22, 2025Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development, Wycliffe Oparanya, has sent a strong warning to cartels frustrating Kenya’s coffee reforms, declaring that the government will not allow farmers to continue suffering at the hands of exploitative middlemen.
In a statement shared on his official Facebook page on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, Oparanya said the government is in the final stages of implementing the Coffee Revitalisation Programme, a plan aimed at restoring the sector’s profitability and ensuring that farmers benefit directly from their labour.
“Earlier today, I chaired a consultative meeting with key stakeholders from across the coffee value chain, where I reiterated that farmers must remain at the centre of the Coffee Revitalisation Programme and be the primary beneficiaries of the ongoing reforms,” Oparanya said.
He added that the government’s goal is to build a coffee sector that can sustain itself and operate transparently without manipulation by brokers.
“I emphasised that our shared goal is to build a self-sustaining and progressively self-regulating coffee sector, with the Government providing an enabling environment to enhance productivity, profitability, and fairness,” he stated.
The meeting brought together farmers, cooperatives, and industry regulators to review key areas that continue to affect coffee growers, including delayed payments and high deductions that eat into farmers’ earnings.
Oparanya said the discussions focused on streamlining the Direct Settlement System (DSS) to guarantee transparent and timely payments to farmers through the Cooperative Bank.
He also noted that the ministry is reviewing fees charged by DSS facilitators to prevent unnecessary deductions that reduce farmers’ profits.
“The meeting discussed the operationalisation of the Direct Settlement System (DSS) to ensure transparent and timely payments to farmers through the Cooperative Bank; the review of fees charged to DSS facilitators to protect farmers from unnecessary deductions; alignment of Capital Markets Authority (CMA) regulations with current sector reforms; strengthening of the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) into a fully-fledged corporate entity and competitive market player; and greater inclusion of youth and women in the coffee value chain,” Oparanya said.
He revealed that as part of the next steps, all stakeholders will submit a reviewed memorandum outlining priority areas for government support.
“As a way forward, stakeholders will submit a reviewed memorandum outlining priority areas for government support and participate in the upcoming capacity-building programme to fast-track the reform agenda,” he added.
Oparanya’s strong stance sends a clear message that the government is ready to face the powerful cartels that have for years dominated the coffee sector, promising that reforms will put power and profit back into the hands of farmers.