By Ngondi Mburu Business Daily November 16 2011 A farmer picks her coffee crop. Photo : Courtesy of Business Daily. High international coffee prices have spurred dramatic rise in illegal trade as the harvesting of this year’s crop begins. Farmers are selling to berries at farm gates contravening the Coffee Act, which requires that the produce be sold to registered societies. “Buying and selling of coffee is now being done by the roadside and at shopping centres in broad daylight in total disregard of the law,” said Newton Ndiritu, the chairman of the Othaya Farmers’ Co-operative Society. The farm-gate sales have sparked fears of loan defaults and failure by the cooperative societies to recover early payments given to farmers. “Some of the society members who are selling the coffee through these dealers owe debts to the society,” said Mr Ndiritu. Farmers sell ripe coffee at Sh40 a kilogramme and as little as Sh20 for unripe berries to the middl...