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NAIROBI, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's ministry of agriculture and law enforcement agencies said on Wednesday they will crack down on cartels behind the theft of coffee beans in the central parts of the country.
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Richard Lesiyampe, said the authorities will take punitive actions on cartels behind the massive theft of coffee beans in the custody of rural cooperatives.
"In recent weeks, there have been complaints from farmers in the central Kenyan counties of Nyeri, Kirinyaga and Muranga about coffee theft in cooperative societies. The government will take action against this criminal offense and prosecute the culprits," Lesiyampe told reporters in the capital Nairobi on Wednesday.
Kenyan media has in recent months reported a spike in coffee thefts that has resulted in huge losses of income to smallholders.
Lesiyampe said the theft of coffee beans has impacted negatively on Kenya's export earnings and morale of small scale growers.
He revealed that 467 bags of coffee valued at 50,000 U.S. dollars have been stolen from the stores owned by rural cooperatives this year.
"Though coffee theft has been prevalent in this country for decades, it spiked to crisis levels this year. Criminal syndicates have taken advantage of lax security to cart away coffee beans and later sell them in the black market," said Lesiyampe.
He added that both the national and county governments will implement a raft of measures to deter theft of coffee in the future.
"The government will assist cooperatives install surveillance cameras at storage facilities while armed police will guard these premises to thwart intrusion by criminal gangs responsible for stealing coffee," Lesiyampe said.
He disclosed the government was considering rolling out an insurance cover for coffee farmers to cushion them from income losses in case of theft.
Kenya produces 50,000 metric tons of coffee annually and earns an estimated 200 million dollars from exporting the commodity overseas.
The ministry of agriculture has developed a strategic plan to boost coffee production through planting of improved varieties and streamlining of key value chains. Enditem
