20 Unusual Uses for Coffee

Can you imagine life without coffee? We'd all stumble around like drones for hours every morning, lost without our precious fix. We love coffee for its flavor, its aroma and of course its pick-me-up, but there are at least 20 more compelling reasons to stay stocked up. These tips will give you surprising and unusual uses for fresh coffee beans or grounds that have gone stale, the pounds of used grounds you toss out every week and the dregs at the bottom of your cup. 

Kill fridge odor Wouldn't you rather smell coffee than two-week-old leftovers, half-rotten produce and spoiled milk? If your fridge is a nightmare of foul odors, place a bowl of fresh, unused coffee grounds inside and leave it for a day or two. The coffee will absorb the odors and you'll crave a cup whenever you open the door. This odor-killing trick works for practically anything else as well - just place the item in a sealed plastic bag along with an open can of coffee grounds and bye-bye stank. 

Reduce cellulite Pricey cellulite creams almost always have one major ingredient in common: caffeine, which supposedly enhances fat metabolism, reducing the appearance of these fatty pockets under the skin. To make your own coffee cellulite treatment at home, mix warm used coffee grounds with coconut oil and rub it onto your skin in circular motions for a few minutes before rinsing. 

Erase smells on your hands Garlic, salmon, cilantro - there are some things that smell delicious when cooking, but aren't so pleasant hours later when they linger on your hands. Get rid of them by rubbing a handful of used coffee grounds on your hands and rinsing with warm water. 

Make rich compost There's a reason so many gardeners swear by adding used coffee grounds to compost. The grounds are rich in phosphorous, potassium, magnesium and copper, they release nitrogen into the soil as they degrade and they're a little bit acidic, which is great for certain soils. If you compost on a large scale, you can get used grounds for free at your local coffee hot spot or mom-and-pop cafe. 

Get shiny hair Who doesn't want shiny, healthy-looking hair? Coffee is often recommended as a simple, natural treatment to make hair extra-glossy. Brew up an extra-strong pot, let it cool and apply it to your dry, clean hair. Leave it on for at least twenty minutes, then rinse. Keep it up once a week or so for best results. 

Natural dye The natural pigments in coffee make it a great natural dye for fabric, paper, Easter eggs - even your hair. Brush paper with strong brew and let it dry, or soak fabric items in hot coffee. The results won't be color-fast, and may bleed out onto other items, so it's best to use this on items that won't be washed very often if at all. Using coffee as a hair shine treatment, as previously mentioned, may temporarily lend a rich, dark tint to your hair. 

Reduce fireplace mess Want to clean your fireplace without causing a dust storm? Wait until the embers are cool, sprinkle damp coffee grounds all over the ashes , let them sit for about 15 minutes and then scoop out the whole mess into a metal ash can. The coffee grounds cling to the ashes, so they don't spew dust nearly as much as they would otherwise. 

Pin cushion filler Dried, used coffee grounds are the perfect filler for homemade pin cushions. Just wrap them in some scrap cloth, tie it off with a rubber band and place the cloth in an egg cup or other small container. The grounds will keep your pins from rusting, too. 

Exfoliate skin The same properties that reportedly enable coffee to reduce the appearance of cellulite can smooth and tighten your skin, and the texture of ground coffee will buff away dead skin cells, too. Make your own coffee-based scrub by combining a tablespoon of coffee grounds with half a tablespoon of olive oil and, optionally, a drop of your favorite essential oil. 

Repel ants Sprinkle dry, used coffee grounds in problem areas where you notice ants in your home or yard and they might just pick up and leave. To tackle huge ant mounds, pour an entire pot of brewed coffee right on the mound. 

Fertilize plants Acid-loving plants will thank you for sprinkling your used coffee grounds around their roots. Azaleas, blueberry shrubs and rhododendrons are just a few of the plants that flourish when treated with coffee thanks to all those nutrients. You can also dilute the leftover coffee in your mug and pour it right into your potted plants (as long as you don't use cream and sugar, of course!) 

Keep cats out of your garden To you, that little garden in your yard is a beautiful source of fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables, but to seemingly every cat in a five-mile radius, it's a giant, irresistible litter box. Just use the trick mentioned above, sprinkling used coffee grounds on the soil, and cats will want nothing to do with it. 

Scrub all kinds of surfaces Mildly abrasive and acidic, coffee grounds are great for scrubbing surfaces like countertops, cooking ranges and refrigerators. Use them alone or mix them with a little dish soap. 

Auto air freshener Next time you accidentally spill coffee grounds on the floor, don't just sweep them up and toss them in the trash. You can use them to make an all-natural DIY air freshener like this one at Instructables. Try to use an old ripped pair of pantyhose and spare string to make this an even more eco-friendly project. 

Grow mushrooms Used coffee grounds are an ideal medium to grow many kinds of mushrooms, including oyster mushrooms. You can actually purchase mushroom-growing kits from a company called Back to the Roots which includes reclaimed coffee grounds, mushroom roots and a mini spray bottle. The kit can produce up to 1.5 pounds of oyster mushrooms within 10 days.

Repel fleas Rub used, damp coffee grounds through your pet's fur after bathing to repel fleas without questionable, likely-toxic chemical treatments. If nothing else, it will at least improve that post-bath wet-dog smell that gets all over your furniture. 

Pretty vase fillers Stale or dirty coffee beans are still a thing of beauty. Use them as vase fillers, or in cups or jars full of pens and pencils. Not only are they pretty, they continue to smell good for quite a while, too. 

Start vermicomposting Red wriggler worms, the sort used in vermicomposting systems, love coffee almost as much as we do. It's not really clear why, but if you want a thriving community of worms to devour all of your kitchen waste (and those nasty little things really are amazingly efficient), be sure to add used coffee grounds to their bedding on a regular basis. 

Secret recipe ingredient Just a little hint of coffee can be the ingredient that becomes your undisclosed "magic touch" in foods like chili, ice cream and chocolate cake. Use a little bit as a marinade for steaks and not only will it make them unbelievably tender, it'll also provide a hint of deep, smoky flavor. 

Touch up furniture scratches Scratches on wood furniture disappear almost instantly by simply rubbing in a little bit of instant coffee dampened into a paste with hot water. Repeat if necessary until the scratch matches the surrounding wood. 

Ray of hope as coffee is poised for comeback

Recent overtures by the Government and development partners towards the beleaguered coffee sector should be applauded.
Coffee was once the primary cash crop, and earned the country the prestigious title of world best producer of coffee. But its popularity fell in the 1990s, with production plummeting from 130,000 metric tonnes in the 1980s to 40,000 tonnes last year. Coffee is now only the fourth-largest earner after tourism, tea and horticulture.
The chief reason for this drop was decreasing coffee acreage, which is being lost to other high value crops, like horticulture, and real estate development in areas adjacent to Nairobi.
The decline was mostly brought about by mismanagement in the sector, which forced farmers to make do with paltry earnings. The low earnings, coupled with the high cost of inputs drove farmers to abandoning it for more lucrative crops, like horticulture and food crops.
But there is a ray of hope for the dying sector as the European Union said yesterday that it had increased funding to the sector. Under the plan, farmers will receive about Sh500 million in the next four years to improve production and quality. 
Certification project
This follows another plan to boost quality control in coffee production, strengthen competitiveness of the crop and increase farmers’ earnings launched in July.
This plan would see the EU work and Kenya-based DCDM jointly fund a Sh370 million certification project aimed at increasing output and boost earnings by 25 per cent.
Moreover, Government recently introduced a hybrid plant resistant to coffee berry disease and to coffee leaf rust.
It is also high-yielding and suitable for planting at twice the normal density. 
All these will help revive the floundering sector, and boost falling production.

Why Central Bank had uphill task in stabilising the shilling

In a March closed-door meeting with fund managers on the decision by the Monetary Policy Committee to raise the central bank rate to six per cent, CBK governor Njuguna Ndung’u talked at length on why there was no need for worry over movements of the exchange rate since it is “an automatic stabiliser” to the economy.

Then, the shilling to dollar rate was at about Sh85, which was considered a significant depreciation because the exchange rate had hovered around Sh77-81 for the better of the previous 12 months.

The “automatic stabiliser” thesis derives from the observation that a currency tends to depreciate when a country increases imports, but when importers realise how expensive it is they begin to cut on goods that are not important.

Simultaneously, the weaker exchange rate encourages more exports which have a tendency to push a currency up.

In this manner, the current account deficit — showing more imports than exports — in the balance of payment is automatically corrected over time by the exchange rate itself without any active intervention by authorities.

Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group who was visiting Kenya recently, holds the same position.

Dr Mobius pointed out that any attempt to intervene, beyond the mere smoothening of temporary imbalances, is likely to cause more problems than it would solve as witnessed in Thailand when the country faced a currency crisis in mid 1997.

The Thailand crisis began with depreciation of the currency at which point the central bank decided to pump dollars into financial markets.

But savvy global speculators, mainly hedge funds, bought the entire amounts. The same crisis hit Argentina in 2001 to 2002 and speculators struck again causing the country to run out of forex.

These countries provide practical lessons and explain why Kenyan monetary authorities have been reluctant to engage in an all-out war through pumping money into the forex market.

 “The central bank should do nothing about the currency unless it is merely smoothening short-term fluctuations in the market.

“People know how to adjust so the central bank shouldn’t do anything that amounts to intervention. You can get into trouble by attempting to control currency values,” said Dr Mobius.

This is to say that in the long run, the exchange rate will return to its equilibrium such that where the shilling depreciates, export demand rises while import demand declines due to high prices. It amounts to an automatic correction of the current account deficit.

Has there been any semblance of this automatic stabilisation in the Kenyan case during a year in which the shilling has depreciated by more than 20 per cent?

There is scanty evidence so far. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics’ (KNBS) Leading Economic Indicators for August show that the total value of exports between June and July increased by 1.5 per cent while the value of imports declined by 1.3 per cent over the same period.

Prof Ndung’u said there was reduction in imports of goods intended for consumption but an increase in those intended for the productive sectors of the economy.

The point of contention was that the reduction in imports was minimal as the current account deficit remained high and had limited impact on the currency that is currently hovering at Sh95 to Sh96 to the dollar, far from the Sh81 level at the beginning of the year.

Apparently convinced that matters would settle, the CBK first hesitated to act strongly to tighten the Central Bank Rate (CBR) until the September data showed that prices had risen by 17.32 per cent — indicating that the weaker exchange rate had passed through to inflation.

The monetary authority drastically raised the CBR to 16.5 per cent in two consecutive sessions totalling 9.5 percentage points within one month.

Overall, CBK has tightened the rate by 1075 basis points (an equivalent of 10.75 percentage points) since March.

CBK also wanted to trade dollars directly with exporters and importers, bypassing banks — a policy pronouncement that never took off given the commitment to liberalisation of the exchange rate regime that has been in existence since 1994.

Not surprisingly, when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) came to Nairobi recently it insisted on a free-floating exchange rate regime.

This is something that is clearly stated in one of the articles of the Bretton Woods institution to which Kenya has subscribed and would not have wanted to appear to be flouting at a time it was desperate for the IMF’s hard currency.

The intention to bypass banks was not taken well by the industry.

One MP accused the government of letting Equity Bank buy dollars from the market using the cash it receives from government — apparently a reference to the SME, youth, and women’s funds that have been distributed by a number of banks and microfinance institutions including Equity. Analysts and dealers also began to tell stories of how chief executives were receiving letters from CBK warning them of dire consequences if their media comments were seen to be inflaming market sentiments.

This seemed to confirm the claim made in Parliament that Mr Ndung’u did not have a good working relationship with banks.

And yet the governor is a well-respected economist who spent most of his career as a researcher and academic. As an economist, with a doctorate from Sweden and original research work published in respected journals, Prof Ndung’u is considered one of the Kenya’s best economists.

In the practical world of central banking, however, Prof Ndung’u has made decisions that he would probably find unpalatable as a scholar in economics.

Such decisions include “criminalisation” of emergency borrowing where banks are now subjected to investigation and possible punitive action if they borrows more than twice in a week at the discount window. The decision has led to misalignment of short-term interest rates because it is now more expensive to borrow from another bank through the interbank market than from the central bank — which was not the case previously.

CBK’s attempt to trade in forex directly with importers and exporters has also been seen as a retreat into the era of foreign exchange controls.

Prof Ndung’u is on record for saying that some banks with foreign links had moved forex out of the country in order to cause scarcity and sink the value of the shilling.

Purchasing power

However, the governor did not name the banks. Even when Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta was hard-pressed by Parliament to name the banks, he offered no concrete answers other than the excuse that CBK did not make the names available to Treasury.

Experts say that inflation is a major contributor to the depreciation of the shilling.

This is in line with the purchasing power parity principle, recently explained by economist Joy Kiru of the University of Nairobi.

The principle states that the exchange rate between one currency and another changes in order to equalise the domestic purchasing power of trading partners. This means that if the price level is high, as has been the case for Kenya, but is lower in trading partners — as is the case in European and North American countries that have experienced deflation — then the value of the domestic currency must fall in order for the two to be in equilibrium when trading takes place.

The fact that Kenya’s inflation stands at 18.91 per cent and the Eurozone one at three per cent means that the Kenyan currency has to depreciate against the Euro to bring about parity (or equilibrium) in prices since about a quarter of Kenya’s trade is with Europe.

A question was put to Prof Ndung’u during one of his press briefings on whether he thought fiscal policies (relating to government spending and taxation) were well synchronised with monetary policy to curb the turbulence in the currency market.

Treasury’s intervention

He responded, though a bit vaguely, that they were synchronised. However, he later dropped the stance stating that he had done his part and the remaining task required Treasury’s intervention.

“There are two forces pulling the shilling, supply and demand. We have done our part in managing the demand side by raising the cost of borrowing. The remaining part is for Treasury and other Government bodies that deal with fiscal policies,” said Prof Ndung’u at the height of the outcry for intervention in currency market.

The problems facing Kenya’s monetary authorities are not unique. In Uganda inflation stands at 30.5 per cent and its central bank rate is at 23 per cent.

In a report, JP Morgan lists South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda as among countries with the highest currency depreciation rates this year.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was also been struggling with a weaker currency and rising interest rates. Despite the country’s huge oil exports, as at the end of October, the naira has lost six per cent of its value since June.

Nigeria has $32 billion worth of forex reserves, which is about seven months of import cover, but this is only half of the 2008 level ($62 billion), according to an analysis by Razia Khan, head of research at StanChart in London.

CBN noted that “there is, however, need for more fiscal prudence to safeguard the external reserves from further depletion.”

Fiscal prudence is an issue that appears to have been ignored for long. Only recently, Treasury attempted to address the matter by cutting spending during this financial year after realising the pressure it was putting on interest rates, the value of the shilling, and inflation.

Citigroup economist for Africa David Cowan has been categorical that Kenya’s currency problems relate mainly to the huge current account and fiscal deficit. Some economists, including those at the IMF, have pointed out that there has been high government spending and rapid expansion of credit from banks to households contributing to increased money supply. 
Cash injected into an economy, which is not matched by production, floats around thereby tending to raise overall demand which pushes up prices of goods.

The increased money supply has a tendency to reduce the value of the same currency.
Some analysts argue that the expected deficit of Sh236 billion for this financial year (about 7.5 per cent of the gross domestic product) is above what would be prudent in a situation where aggregate demand appears adequate and there is no need for a fiscal stimulus.

Underlying this argument on excess aggregate demand is that this can only cause inflation which soared to 18.91 per cent in October. The 10-month annualised average inflation is 12.9 per cent, indicating that it will probably average the same for the entire year.

At an average of 13 per cent, fixed-income assets must attract a higher rate so that the real return is positive.

But Kenya is seen as having been slow to react to the changes taking place from an inflation and exchange rate point of view.

According to an analysis by JP Morgan, a comparison of the situation in Kenya with Nigeria shows that investors prefer the Nigerian case.

“We continue to favour Nigeria over Kenya given Nigeria’s stronger economic positioning and we highlight Kenya’s delayed policy actions,” said the JP Morgan report.

The same sentiments were expressed in a report by Citigroup. “Fortunately, some central banks are belatedly seeing the light and restoring tighter monetary policy,” the bank said in reference to Kenya and the recent tightening of CBR to 16.5 per cent.

Drastic measures

In a recent analysis, Dr Mbui Wagacha, a consultant economist and director at CBK, said it was necessary to take decisive action in the manner that Paul Volcker, a former US Federal Reserve chairman, did in the early 1980s.

Volcker’s drastic tightening of monetary policy and Treasury’s fiscal prudence led to low inflation and economic growth that lasted more than a decade.

Right now interest rates are so high that some banks have raised not only base rates, but also deposit rates are also on the rise.

Some banks are charging a base rate of as high as 25 per cent. But for investors focusing on fixed-income securities, it is boom time.

The overriding thing driving the market is the rising interest rates. People are moving into the fixed-income market because returns are good and assured.

Low income earners to pay less tax in new plan

Lowest paid workers are set to bear a lighter burden as the government moves to raise the minimum taxable salary to boost disposable income.

Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) taxes any incomes above Sh12,196, a threshold that was last reviewed in 2005, while workers earning more than Sh38,893 attract the maximum tax rate of 30 per cent.

But Treasury says that it will unveil a new tax structure in July — the start of the government’s next financial year — that will see minimum taxable income increased and the tax bands widened to reflect the current income trends and cost of living levels.

“We have formed a commission that is working on the new tax bands and the rates should be ready ahead of the Budget,” said Geoffrey Mwau, Treasury economic secretary, adding that the move is aimed at easing the burden of tax on lowly paid Kenyans.

The idea is to widen the brackets so that individuals do not reach the top tax band of 30 per cent at low income levels.

Treasury has been keen to raise the minimum monthly taxable income to Sh18,000 and raise the maximum cap that attracts the maximum tax rate of 30 per cent to Sh60,000.

The move is expected to put more money in the pockets of about 1.2 million workers whose earnings have failed to keep pace with the surging cost of living or inflation over the past five years — pushing more employees into the poverty bracket.

Monthly inflation is currently running at 18.91 per cent while employers are likely to keep annual wage increments at about eight per cent.

The review would also ease the pressure on executives to increase wages to levels that compensate workers from effects of rising cost of living.

The government has been hesitant to review the income tax rates for fear of slowing down its revenue collection.

Income tax accounts for about 38 per cent of KRA total tax collection — which means it plays a significant role in financing public expenditure at a time when the government is relying heavily on taxes to fund its operations.

But the state is getting comfort from the planned review of consumption tax or value added tax by reducing goods that enjoy exceptions and increase the rate from 12 per cent to 16 per cent such as electricity and furnace oil. (READ: Tax reforms set stage for higher consumer prices)

The new structure will put money in the pockets of the most vulnerable groups prompting them to get spending again and shore up the sagging demand in corporate Kenya — boosting state coffers with increased consumption tax.

“Removing some of the poor working class from paying and lowering tax rates can act as perfect affirmative action,” said Robert Bunyi, an analyst at Mavuno Capital

The plan to review the tax regime comes two years after the government reclassified Kenya’s income brackets.

The upper limit of the low income band was revised from Sh10,000 a month to Sh23,671 a month — placing 72 per cent of working Kenyans in the low income band.

The middle income bracket will now fall between Sh23,672 and Sh119,999 while the higher income bracket will now start at Sh120,000 three times the previous base of Sh40,000.