'Buyers from all over the world are coming to Nuegi for the coffee expo.'

Nyeri will today (Sunday) receive over 20 buyers who will begin their coffee tour on Monday by visiting Hill Farm.

The buyers from UAE, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa, South Africa, UK, US, Germany, Singapore and China are scheduled to split into two groups on Tuesday and Wednesday to visit 23 coffee factories in the district. The buyers will then visit the coffee roasting center at the Dedan Kimathi University's Department of Coffee to taste their chosen coffee before closing deals with coffee farmers.

Nyeri County Deputy District Head for Commerce Diana Kendi said this will be the first expo to be held with a decentralized structure. She added that the move was inspired by the ongoing reforms in''coffee sector, hosted by Deputy President Rigati Gachagua. "Buyers will have the opportunity to purchase the commodity at the factory level through the direct selling system, which will enable them to make more money as this strategy eliminates intermediate middlemen in the coffee value chain," Kendi told The Sunday Standard newspaper.

According to the county official, the main objective of the expo is also to provide a platform for farmers to interact with buyers and engage them in the value chain, unlike traditional practices where farmers complete their interactions after delivering their produce at the factory.

The district is known for producing SL28 and SL34 mountain island coffee varieties, which are known for their''exceptional quality and unique flavor characteristics. These varieties are in high demand but remain under-exploited due to market constraints. The district also faces constraints such as high production costs and a long chain of intermediaries between coffee producers and consumers.

The pilot coffee expo will then be held in the entire Mount Kenya region before being rolled out nationwide to increase farmers' incomes. The buyers' visit comes shortly after Gachagua returned to the country on Tuesday after a ten-day visit to Belgium and Germany where he commandeered coffee markets for''farmers. In Brussels, Gachagua struck a deal with Java Coffee Company whereby the company will buy over 700,000 kilograms of coffee from smallholder farmers, particularly women. In Germany, his high profile meetings will lead to the creation of warehouses for Kenyan coffee for small and medium roasters. "He has held numerous meetings with investors who plan to invest in various sectors in the country including manufacturing, renewable energy, tourism, blue economy, research and others," said a statement from the deputy president's office, The Sunday Standard read.