Kenya is the fifth largest coffee producer in Africa. Even so, current production is a fraction of what it once was, with the country’s peak being in the late 1980s when it was generating over 129,000 tonnes annually. 

Kenya’s acreage of coffee production has since decreased by around 30% due to factors such as inconsistent prices and climate change, prompting farmers to abandon the industry. Large swathes of land previously used for coffee production have been converted into real estate or more profitable agricultural and horticultural crops.

According to the International Coffee Organisation, these days Kenya produces an average of 800 thousand bags of coffee per year. Between 2020 and 2021, Kenya produced around 700,000 bags or just over 40,000 tonnes.

Despite significant falls in production since its peak in the 1980s, coffee remains an important agricultural export for Kenya.