President William Ruto has announced that more than 580,000 farmers have benefited from the Coffee Cherry Advance Revolving Fund (CCARF).

In his speech read by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi during the 103rd Ushirika Day Celebrations at the Kenyatta International Convention and Conference Centre (KICC) on Saturday, July 12, 2025, Ruto stated that the framers have benefited from Ksh8.9 billion advances from the kitty.

“We have also advanced the coffee cherry revolving fund, increasing its capitalisation from Ksh3 billion to Ksh4.75 billion. So far, over 580,000 farmers have benefited from advances totalling Ksh8.9 billion across coffee-growing counties,” he said.

Further, he stated that the cabinet approved a Ksh6.6 billion debt waiver to coffee cooperative societies in the coffee-growing counties.

Ruto stated that the government has allocated Ksh2 billion for the waivers in the 2024/25 financial year.

“The cabinet has approved a Ksh6.8 billion debt waiver for coffee cooperative societies, with Ksh2 billion allocated in the current financial year,” he said.

Additionally, he stated that these reforms have increased the price of coffee by Ksh100 from Ksh50 per kilo.

“This measure is bearing fruit in some regions, with an increase in farm gate coffee prices from Ksh50 per kilogram to as high as Ksh150 per kilogram.”

Revolving fund

In 2019, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced the establishment of a Ksh3 billion cherry advance revolving fund as part of bigger plans to revive the struggling coffee subsector.  

The Kenya Kwanza government boosted the fund with Ksh4 billion more in December 2023 to accelerate the recovery of the sector.

According to the Coffee Cherry Advance Revolving Fund report released in December 2024, loan advancement to farmers increased by over 500 per cent from mid-November 2023.

Further, the report revealed that close to half a million small-scale farmers have borrowed Ksh6.7 billion from the Coffee Cherry Advance revolving fund, with seven counties in the Mount Kenya region enjoying 59.7 per cent.

The fund administered by the New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (New KPCU) benefited 497,221 farmers, a trend the organisation’s top management attributed to low interest rates and improved governance disbursement systems.