Kenya’s Export Trading Group has sensitised farmers on bogus middleman that thrive during the harvesting season.
Shem Odhiambo, Country Director bemoaned that farmers have for a long time been exposed to unscrupulous businessmen.
“We must guard against exploitations during harvesting periods if we are to see thousands of our small-scale farmers thrive,” Odhiambo said.
For the last five years, ETG has been rolling out an ambitious plan that seeks to educate farmers, provide them with high quality inputs and guarantee them lucrative markets for their produce.
So far, the project has yielded fruits especially in Rift Valley, Central, Western and Eastern regions.
“Food production has gone up. Vulnerable farmers’ incomes have increased, translating to better living standards,” said Odhiambo.
Meanwhile ETG is to launch a fertiliser blending plant in Mombasa, later this month, with a daily production capacity of 150,000 tonnes, the plant would produce fertilisers that are soil-specific.
ETG says the blending plant would help tame high prices of the farm input.