Coffee is an important crop in the Kenyan economy as it’s the 3rd highest foreign exchange earner. However, its production has been deteriorating in the recent past due to various factors. Conducted in Meru County in three cooperatives, this study used questionnaires as data collecting instrument. The study sought to investigate the factors that have influenced the withdrawal of coffee farmers from coffee production. The results show that the major problems facing coffee production were delayed payment, pests and diseases, poverty and low access to agricultural credit, poor agronomy, ineffective agricultural extension and low adoption of new coffee varieties. Logistic regression results show that the factors that positively influenced withdrawal of coffee farmers from coffee production were gender (male), level of education, understanding of English language, delayed payment and off farm employment of the farmer. The factors that negatively influenced the withdrawal were age of the farmer, size of land owned, livestock farming and perception of the farmer towards the enterprise. The study recommends that the coffee cooperatives should offer credits, reduce the duration of payment and offer subsidized inputs to all farmers. They should also allow farmers to practice mixed farming to cushion delayed payments from coffee.

Keywords: Coffee, Logistic, withdrawal, output.