Dairy farmers opt for Bank Loans to startoff

SMEP staff, Beth Jelagat addressing dairy  farmers

 A group of over one hundred (100) farmers from Sipili have come together to form a group called ''Wangwache dairy farmers''.

 The group is now set to access financial services from SMEP, a Nyahururu based micro finance institution which has come in handy for the farmers whose goal is to produce milk on commercial scale. 

The farmers intends to buy high producing dairy cows and the challenge of high start up cost, could not deter them from pursuing their dreams. That is why they went to SMEP to seek for the loans.

When the Ngarua maarifa centre visited the group, an officer from SMEP was assisting the group members to fill the loans application forms. An individual member needs ro pay a registration fee and deposit ten thousand (10,000) shillings to get a cow costing fifty thousand shillings (50,000), and 20,000 for a cow costing Kenya shillings one hundred thousand (100,000). 

Clients can repay the whole amount in monthly installments ranging from six to twenty four months. There is a grace period of three months before loanees start repaying through the mobile money transfer system (Mpesa).

 The bank is also linking the farmers to livestock insurance providers to cushion them in case of any unexpected eventualities like death of the animals.

The farmers who practice mixed farming are also gearing to benefit from an E-marketing project being implemented by ALIN at the Ng'arua Maarifa Centre in Sipili. They were informed that an order of maize was being secured through the E-marketing portal; (www.sokopepe.co.ke) all that farmers need to do is to get organized and bulk their produce ready for marketing. Farmers can query for market prices using their mobile phones by dialing (price#product#town) example (Price#Maize#Nairobi) and then send the sms to 20254.