ECONOMIC-BENEFITS OF INTERCROPPING YOUNG ARABICA AND ROBUSTA COFFEE WITH FOOD CROPS IN KENYA

As coffee prices fall, intercropping the young trees with vegetables h as been suggested as a way of providing farmers with extra income as w ell as improving their diet. To test whether this is an economic propo sition, Arabica and Robusta coffee was intercropped with various food crops at several sites in the main coffee-growing zones of Kenya. Inte rcropping with potatoes, tomatoes, dry beans, cabbages, carrots and so yabeans was found to be economically viable, depending on the site, In tercropping coffee with maize, sweet potatoes, groundnuts, cowpeas, ga rden peas and cassava was not economic, however.