Day: May 25, 2023

Majengo Warehouse Cooperative Society in Lugari Sub County is on the verge of establishing the first maize milling plant in Kakamega County to uplift the members’ socioeconomic status.

The milling machine which is a donation through the Kenya Cereal Enhancement Programme- Climate Resilient Agricultural Livelihoods (KCEP-CRAL) will be set up at Majengo warehouse constructed under the Kenya Economic Stimulus Program.

Kakamega County Agriculture Executive Benjamin Andama, while on a visit to the warehouse lauded the cooperative society and KCEP-CRAL for the initiative, which he said will create job opportunities and ward off maize cartels that have exploited local farmers for long.

He said food security is among the main pillars of Governor Fernandes Barasa and that is why the county government is teaming up with KCEP-CRAL which has been at the forefront to ensure the cooperative society gets a milling machine.

He said: ‘We expect to receive the milling machine anytime and hopefully the factory will be operational very soon. ‘He said urging Kakamega residents to be proud and ready to consume flour from the county’s first milling factory.

He told members of the cooperative society that the work of the government is not do business but rather to provide an enabling environment for development urging them to put in place measures that will ensure sustainability of the factory.

‘You cannot do maize milling by buying maize from the market. What happens with other millers is that they buy in bulk during the harvesting period.

You need to come up with a roadmap and enlist professionals to run the project for success,’ said the county executive, noting that the county administration will fully support the project and farmers should not fail on their part.

Andama stated that the county expects a bumper maize harvest of over 3million 90 kilogram bags this year owing to the favourable weather conditions and the subsidized fertilizer from the county and national government.

He promised to increase the quantity of subsidized fertilizer allocated to Lugari and Likuyani Sub Counties in the next budgetary proposals noting that the two are the food basket of the county.

Western region KCEP-CRAL coordinator Caro Kamau thanked the county government for supporting the milling initiative noting that they still rely on it for sustainability.

She said Majengo Warehouse Cooperative Society will be the first beneficiary under the program to receive a value addition equipment (a new milling machine) to enable farmers to value add and progress from selling maize to selling flour.

Kamau said under the KCEP-CRAL value chain program they ensure the farmers use the right inputs in terms of seeds and fertilizer with no usage of chemicals so that buyers access clean maize.

‘As far as the buying is concerned they can also add value once they harvest in order to sell at better prices. That is why the cooperative society applied for the milling machine which we are expecting soon,’ she explained.

The coordinator urged local farmers to raise their maize and aggregate from the warehouse, which is run by the farmers and Lugari sub county agriculture extension officers.

Kamau appealed to the county government, extension officers and farmers to support the warehouse so that it runs as expected and avails flour not only to residents of western but the entire country.

She said they have identified nine other collection centres in the sub county, which will be aggregating maize and bringing it to the Majengo warehouse.

Lumakanda Ward Representative Bernard Bokanda also lauded the cooperative society for the initiative saying it will be pleasing to see farmers reap profits from their farm produce.

He said: ‘This is going to be the first maize milling plant in Kakamega County. Once it is launched, we should all support it by ensuring all our local shops sell the flour.’

He pleaded with the county government to support Lugari farmers through increased subsidies so that they can produce more in the next planting season.

‘We got fertilizer on time, but my plea is that the county government should increase the quantity so that farmers get fertilizer equivalent to what they can produce and not just a flat number of bags for all the farmers regardless of their farm size,’ he appealed.

On the issue of farmers in the area being lured to sugarcane farming, Bokanda said each sub county needs to specialize.

‘Let Lugari and Likuyani farmers specialize on maize production while the others can specialize on sugarcane,’ he said.

He challenge the county government to venture into other ways of motivating locals to farming through availing subsidized cultivation so that even the poor are assisted to till their land.

Lugari Constituency manager Rajab Mukolwe who represented the area legislator Nabii Nabwera thanked KCEP-CRAL for the project saying besides ensuring the constituency was food secure it will offer employment opportunities and offer farmers better maize prices.

Majengo Warehouse Cooperative Society chairlady Elikah Adagi said the milling plant will be of great value to Lugari farmers.

She appealed to the county government to support the initiative to ensure the county is food secure and farmers get better prices for their maize devoid of middlemen exploitation.

KCEP-CRAL aims to reduce rural poverty and food insecurity among smallholder farmers in Kenya by developing their economic potential, while improving their natural resource management capacity and resilience to climate change in an increasingly fragile ecosystem.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The government is working towards increasing potato production by ensuring it is grown even in Arid and Semi-Arid areas like Marsabit and Wajir through irrigation.

State Department of Crop Development Principal Secretary (PS) Kello Harsama said that with potato being the second most consumed food in the country, as the government they are looking at ways of increasing production so that it can replace maize which is the number one consumed food.

Speaking at Kilimo house, the PS said that the youth have driven the demand for potato to all-time highs where chips is in high demand in colleges, universities, urban centers and homes and they want to increase production to meet this demand.

‘With the governments’ drive to construct dams across the country in high gear, we want to capitalize on the availability of the water to introduce irrigated potato farming in the Arid and Semi-Arid areas where the people are predominantly pastoralist and introduce them to potato farming since it is a fast maturing crop,’ said Harsama.

The PS said that they are also going to enforce laws and regulations in the potato sector, especially the ones touching on the packaging where farmers are exploited by middle men.

‘When I was the Director General at the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA), I enforced the regulations that potatoes must be packaged in 50 kilograms bags,’ said Harsama adding these regulations must be enforced in all potato producing areas by the national government in collaboration with the respective county governments and security teams.

Harsama explained that they have instituted changes in efforts to streamline the operations at the relevant government agencies where there is a new Director General and a new director for food crops at AFA.

‘These changes are geared towards streamlining efficiencies and to ensure that regulations guiding various food sectors are fully enforced,’ said Harsama revealing they will be visiting markets in Nairobi and other major towns to ensure that business people selling potatoes are following the law and using the right packaging of 50 kilogram bags.

‘There are very heavy fines associated with breaking these laws, those who break them risk imprisonment of up to one year, up to Sh.500,000 fine or even a possibility of both a fine and imprisonment,’ warned the PS.

National Potato Council of Kenya (NPCK) chairman John Nderitu said that they have achieved a lot in the sector and right now there are over 60 potato varieties in Kenya.

He explained that records indicate that an average Kenya consumes around 30 kilograms of potato per year which is high but maize is higher at three times this quantity.

Nderitu said that potato is key in addressing climate change and food insecurity since it is a fast maturing crop with an average maturity period of three months. ‘We have moved potato farming to Arid and Semi-Arid areas like Taita-Taveta and Mombasa among others where we have put in a lot of effort in the last couple of years to increase the acreage under potato in the country,’ said Nderitu.

He added that they are also introducing drought and heat tolerant varieties which has seen the number of counties which plant potato increase from the traditional thirteen.

‘Younger people are enjoying potato and its wide range of products like chips and crisps with many international companies setting up shop in the country as they target to bring other products that older people have not been previously eating,’ said Nderitu.

According to Nderitu, there are a lot of companies from Europe including Ireland Germany, and Netherlands that have come to Kenya as seed producers.

He said that the government has provided land for potato seeds production since it requires huge tracts of land for crop rotation.

NPCK CEO Wachira Kaguongo said that the World Potato Congress to be held in Kenya in 2026 will be a game changer in the country’s potato sector where they will gain from the many technologies and innovations on offer by their international partners.

‘The use of potato in Kenya is quite limited and there are other products which are not produced here like starch, flour, dehydrated cubes and alcohol which can all be produced with the right kind of technology thus earning our farmers better income,’ said Kaguongo.

He explained that potato production in Kenya is below 10 tonnes per hectare while other countries are producing 40 tonnes per hectare and there is need to bring those technologies to the country.

He added they are working with counties, processors and regulators like AFA to introduce tractability which is one of the key issues that buyers like KFC want so that farmers can access that type of market.

Source: Kenya News Agency