The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has embarked on a multi-million shilling East African Coffee Initiative Project that will see thousands of farmers acquire modern skills aimed at increasing their production and income.

Select farmers from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia have been incorporated in the project which will among other things train them on modern coffee husbandry and link them with international coffee dealers who are going for specialty coffee.

TechnoServe will provide technical assistance to the farmers and their respective societies’ management committees in agronomy and primary processing to improve coffee quality and yields.

At the end of the four-year project period, farmers affiliated to more than 100 societies across the country will have benefited from the programme.