Govt Confirms Fresh List of Licensed Coffee Exporters

The Ministry of Agriculture, through the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA), has revealed that it has licensed 152 coffee dealers for the 2025/26 season under the country’s current coffee sector regulations.
In a statement on Tuesday, August 26, AFA Director General Bruno Linyuru revealed that these coffee dealers include 126 coffee buyers, 15 coffee warehousemen, and11 coffee agents who have been licensed.
The authority also noted that only these exporters, whose names have been duly published in the gazette notice, are recognized as legitimate exporters in the country.
The clarification came after a gazette notice dated August 22 showed that the authority had granted exclusive licenses to 10 more companies for the export roasting and packaging of coffee, a claim he refuted.
According to the statement, the gazettement of the dealers does grant them exclusive licenses, but is among the key steps the authority must execute in the process of granting companies these licenses.
“AFA wishes to inform the public that registration of coffee dealers in the country is an ongoing process, undertaken continuously within the confines of the law. During the registration process, dealers must be gazetted through a Kenya Gazette Notice, which also gives the public a 14-day period to submit any objection to the grant of a license,” AFA stated.
“The Crops Act, 2013, and the Crops (Coffee) (General) Regulations, 2019, require all persons or entities intending to export coffee from Kenya to be licensed and gazetted through a Kenya Gazette Notice. To date, AFA has licensed 152 coffee dealers under various categories during the financial year 2025/26,” it added.
On the other hand, the authority has issued a stern warning to all individuals and entities that are engaging in the export of coffee without the necessary authorization, noting that legal actions will be taken against such individuals.
In the gazette notice last week, the authority noted that if approved, the ten companies will have the capacity todeal directlywith international stakeholders in the coffee sector.
Out of the ten, seven of them will be cleared to import, roast, and package coffee for the export market, while the remaining three will only focus on facilitating direct sales of green coffee for export, a move that will allow them to work directly with buyers abroad.
The split in licensing is aimed at promoting specialisation to improve efficiency within the country’s export sector.
In the gazette notice, the AFA invited public feedback on the proposed licences, with the public sector offered a 14-day window from the date of publication to submit any objections.