Briefing on strengthening evidence use in Kenya’s climate-resilient coffee sector

How can better evidence help Kenya revitalise its coffee sector while supporting farmers, climate resilience and more sustainable landscapes?

This policy brief distils findings from the British Academy-funded Strengthening Evidence-use for Equitable Climate Resilient Coffee Policies (STEEP) project into practical implications for policy and practice.

Kenya’s coffee sector is navigating declining productivity, major governance reforms and rapidly changing international market requirements. At the same time, new opportunities are emerging through green trade, climate-resilient production and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The brief highlights priorities across four areas.

1. Production: rebuild extension and create two-way flows of knowledge between farmers, researchers and policymakers.
2. Governance: strengthen transparency, accountability and coordination between county and national institutions.
3. Trade: develop evidence systems that can serve multiple regulatory, certification and trade requirements while protecting smallholders from exclusion.
4. Evidence systems: reduce fragmentation and duplication by building systems that connect production, governance and trade.

A key finding is that Kenya is moving towards an “evidence economy”, in which data, traceability and documentation increasingly determine access to markets and participation in coffee governance. This creates opportunities to support sustainable and climate-resilient production, but also risks placing additional costs and burdens on smallholders.

The brief argues for a farmer-centred, coordinated and integrated evidence system that connects county-level production with national regulation and trade -helping Kenya pursue a coffee sector that is competitive, equitable and climate resilient.

This briefing note summarises a longer report on strengthening evidence use in Kenya’s coffee sector.