Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has appealed for collaborative efforts with Colombia to boost the Coffee trade in Kenya.
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00:00 We are here in this forum by choice because we have a lot to learn from Colombia.
00:10 Undoubtedly, Colombia is the largest producer of coffee in the world and has the best quality.
00:20 That's why we are here, because in Kenya we also have as good quality as yours.
00:30 But we are not doing as well, and that is why we are here.
00:34 We are here to seek your friendship, to seek your companionship, to seek your collaboration,
00:44 to seek an exchange program of how the two countries that produce the best coffee in the world can work together.
00:54 We are amazed by your success.
00:58 You not only produce high quality coffee, but you market it right, get good prices, and your farmers are happy.
01:09 That is not the case in my country.
01:12 Despite the fact that we work equally hard, we have good soils just like you, we produce very high quality coffee.
01:24 Our farmers take nothing home.
01:27 And what has happened is that 30 years ago, when our coffee was fetching good prices,
01:37 we were producing 200,000 metric tons a year.
01:42 But because of poor prices, the farmers got demoralized along the way, stopped taking good care of the coffee,
01:52 the yield went down, and we have gone down to 51,000 metric tons a year.
02:01 We are here to talk to our brothers and sisters, and we want to thank your Vice President
02:11 because of the policy of the Colombian government of reconnecting with Africa.
02:16 She has been to Kenya twice in less than six months, and as a result,
02:22 the friendship between Colombia and Kenya is growing stronger every day.
02:28 We want to reap from that friendship.
02:32 We want the National Co-Federation of Colombia to partner with us in Kenya
02:41 so that we can learn from your successes, so that we can know where we have not gotten right,
02:52 and where the rain began to meet us.
02:54 [BLANK_AUDIO]