By Bett Kipsang’
Market access is a crucial component for the
success of any agribusiness venture. Not only do farmers need markets but, good
ones, to enable them get a return on their investments. Achieving this
objective is both a challenge and opportunity, and many initiatives have been
put in place to achieve the noble course.
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| Farmers sort Maize before storage |
In Kinamba, Laikipia West District, a group
called Ng’arua Cereals and Produce Self Help Group, has come up with a smooth
way of ensuring that members control the value chain for their cereals.
They
jointly access inputs and food stock during famine and market without much
hustle. The group was started with a sole aim of offering storage services to
members, it receives and store maize annually until prices improves and also provide loans to farmers using cereal stocks as security.
To start the process, requires building a
store. Initially, members of Ng’arua Cereals and Produce SHG contributed their own
maize to raise share capital. The day to day activities of the store are
managed by elected officials who ensure that quality control measures are
adhered to before the grains are accepted in the store.
When Ng’arua Maarifa Center visited the
Kinamba store, some farmers where busy sorting their maize to remove the bad
ones before they are admitted.
Close to one thousand four hundred bags of
maize are now in the store and more are still trickling in. ‘‘The process has
continually won the confidence of local farmers, as it is easy for them to
access loan facilities without being harassed during repayment’’, said Sophia
Matevu, a store worker.
Farmers do
not struggle to access fertilizer and seeds since the group source for them on their behalf so that they can repay after harvest.
There are
however minor challenges, due to some members breaking their on rules and
demanding to be let free.
