Uasin Gishu County has taken a major step toward modernising its coffee programme following the launch of the Coffee Mkulima Portal, a digital platform (https://mkulima.uasingishu.go.ke/) designed to track seedlings and enhance farmer support services.

Developed by the County ICT Department, the portal replaces manual record-keeping with a smart, GPS-enabled system that tracks coffee seedlings from the nursery to the farmer and ultimately to the field.

The system is expected to improve transparency, accountability and efficiency in the county’s expanding coffee sector.

Speaking during the launch, Deputy Governor Evans Kapkea said the platform was designed to be practical, accessible and farmer-centred.

He noted that the portal will provide growers with critical information, including soil-zone maps, planting records, rainfall risk alerts, pest and disease hot-spot updates, and market access routes through Geographic Information System (GIS) integration.

Kapkea also announced the start of a three-day training programme for farmers and extension officers to facilitate the adoption of the system.

The training will be coordinated by Sub-county Administrators, Ward Administrators and Ward Agricultural Officers.

A trainer from the Coffee Research Institute commended Governor Dr. Jonathan Bii for championing the use of technology to strengthen the coffee value chain.

The trainer said the portal will help reduce seedling losses, ensure accurate seedling distribution records, enable mapping of farmer locations for e-voucher support, and simplify monitoring and evaluation processes.

The digital platform aligns with ongoing national coffee sector reforms aimed at increasing production from 50,000 tonnes to 150,000 tonnes by 2029 under the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).

The reforms focus on improving farmer incomes, enhancing transparency in the value chain, and promoting local value addition.
Among those present at the launch were County Secretary Philip Meli, City Manager Elizeba Busienei, County Executive Committee Member for Agriculture Dr. Sam Kotut, Chief Officer for ICT Abraham Kiptalam, Chief Officer for Finance Eliud Kipkorir, Chief Officer for Cooperatives Elphas Kessio, Chief Officer for Environment Mark Some, Chief Officer for Public Service Management Ruth Samoei, and County Directors Albert Tarus (ICT) and Kipleting Mengich (Enterprises)