| Popis: |
The Kenya coffee sector was adversely hit in recent years by several factors, among which, the world price crises from 1998 to 2004 and a regular two-figure inflation rate for the last decade, are of major importance. More recently, the dramatic price increase of food and agrochemical products has again lowered coffee farmers' incomes. Nowadays, Kenyan coffee stakeholders question the crop's profitability and worry about the future of their well-renowned production. This research project aimed to understand the conditions under which coffee could remain profitable, and the main drivers of production. For this purpose, in 2008, 160 farmers from three cooperatives were interviewed in three different agro-ecological areas of the largest coffee-producing region of Kenya, Kangema, Karatina and Embu districts. Results showed that, in the smallholder context, coffee profitability was low or zero for the majority of farmers. Farm profitability was only maintained through other sources of income such as tree products and horticulture, off-farm revenue and dairy products. This explains why coffee was most frequently associated with other crops and trees. Nevertheless, coffee was still grown for various reasons, mainly as a means to access credit through the cooperative and a hope for future better price. Farmers' strategies to reach this positive trade-off depended upon the agro-ecological context, the family size and the farmer's age. They included various options of income diversification and capitalization, where trees play an important role mainly in providing fuelwood, timber or fruit. Our results demonstrate that the revitalization of coffee production in Kenya could only be achieved through an integrated management of the global agroforestry system, and that a more focused approach, limited to coffee support, is likely to fail. (Texte intégral) |
