Dairy and maize value chain farmers strategize with Laikipia Governor

By Bob Aston

Laikipia County Maize and Dairy Value chain farmers held a meeting with Laikipia Governor Joshua Irungu at his homestead in Kinamba, Githiga Ward on July 24, 2015. The meeting was held to brief the Governor on the progress that the two value chains have made as well as deliberate on challenges and possible solutions in the two value chains.

During the meeting it was noted that the value of Laikipia County maize is approximated at 3.4 billion kshs and that the effect of Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease has not been reported in the County this season.

Governor Irungu noted that such forums are always useful as the County Government is able to know what farmers needs to be addressed. He said that Laikipia has enormous potential that needs to be tapped to ensure that communities improve their livelihood.

Governor Irungu addressing the two value chain stakeholders

 He said that most of the County economic pillars are related to Agriculture. He noted that the County Government is investing heavily in the dairy value chain and already 3 milk coolers with a capacity of 10,000 litres each have been given to dairy cooperatives while 3 more coolers with a capacity of 5,000 litres each will be given out soon.

“Most farmers have been involved in agriculture as a hobby instead of business. We have to embrace agribusiness as a County. We have to ensure that farmers do meaningful business and that as a County we are able to influence the maize market,” said Governor Irungu.

He said that plans are underway to get a hay balers for Muhotetu area. On the same sector the county government is also promoting dorper sheep breed in Laikipia North.

Mr. Waweru Kanja, Chairman Maize Value Chain Core Group informed the Governor that 43 Maize Value Chain groups in the County formed Laikipia Maize Value Chain Development Network with an aim of improving organization and co-ordination of the maize value chain in the County as well as championing the collective interests of the value chain players. This is towards enhancing a viable and equitable commercialization of the maize value chain.

Mr. Kanja noted that some of the issues that the County government needs to address include: late distribution of subsidized government fertilizer; lack of market for farmer produce; and lack of good cereals storage facilities in most parts of the County.

Others include: lack of collateral for smallholder farmers to access business funds; soil testing and training of farmers; lack of agricultural research facilities in the County; and involving agriculture stakeholders when preparing County budget.

He said that constraints in the maize value chain include: high post-harvest losses at an average of 30 percent; poor quality of inputs; high cost of inputs; low soil fertility; frequent droughts; wildlife conflicts; limited access to information; and low adoption of appropriate technology.

Other constraints include: limited accessibility to financial services; pest and disease incidents; poor infrastructure; and high cost of unskilled labour.

Governor Irungu posing for a photo with the two value chain stakeholders

He said that activities earmarked in the maize value chain this year and early next year include: to increase adoption of climate smart production by maize value chain actors including vulnerable groups; to increase equitable access to market; improving adoption of on-farm and community grain storage technologies; and to strengthen capacity of maize value chain groups.

On his part, Mr. John Kimani said that the dairy value chain with a membership of over 6,000 farmers is striving to support consistent supply of standardized branded quality hay from Laikipia County, reduction of spoilage and promotion of value addition of milk.

This year the dairy and hay value chain stakeholder’s are concentrating on capacity development of dairy and hay farmers, supporting development of business plans for farmers, undertaking waste disposal and management, supporting value addition and product development, training on dairy husbandry technologies and training on hay production, harvesting and storage.

Mr. Kimani said that challenges experienced by dairy farmers include: inadequate feeds; pest/diseases; poor quality inputs; fluctuation of milk prices; poor breeds; perishability of milk; and low adoption of existing technologies.

Others include: limited access to information; unpredictability of weather patterns; high cost of inputs; low value addition of milk; and inadequate access to finance.

He requested the county government to fast track operationalization of milk coolers that they had provided. He also requested the County government to support value addition, dairy exhibition day, support strengthening of the Laikipia Hay Company as well as helping to integrate youths in the dairy value chain by developing all the value chains as agriculture business hubs.

Governor Irungu promised that the County Government will address the issues addressed. He noted that some of the issues could have been addressed in the County budget if they had been raised earlier.

Farmers linked to aggregators to benefit through an innovative financing

By Bob Aston

Smallholder farmers from Ol-Moran Ward, Laikipia West Sub County linked to Laikipia Produce and Marketing Cooperative Society will start benefiting from an innovative financing from K-rep Bank.

This is after K-rep Bank accepted an expression of interest from Laikipia Produce and Marketing Cooperative Society for it to become one of the banks aggregators. The two organizations held a meeting at Ng’arua Maarifa Centre on July 17, 2015 to finalize discussions on how to implement the initiative.

K-rep Bank has entered into a partnership with Department for International Development’s (DFID’s) Finance innovation for Climate Change Fund (FICCF) to provide innovative financing to sorghum, cassava and legumes farmers linked to aggregators in their bid to adopt Climate Smart Agriculture approaches, practices and technologies.

“K-rep Bank will work with the cooperative to provide clear funding and repayment system for loans by farmers. The cooperative has to provide a clear link to the end market for their farmers. The cooperative will also qualify for some loan financing instrument,” said Sylvia Kamau from K-rep Bank.

Sylvia taking the cooperative committee through the requirements

Sylvia informed Laikipia Produce and Marketing Cooperative Society that as an aggregator they will be able to access subsidized loans and technical assistance from K-rep Bank as well as FICCF. She said that the bank is also partnering with APA insurance to ensure that farmers produce is guaranteed.

She said that individual farmers will be able to receive loans from K-rep Bank through the cooperative. Aggregators are required to open an account with K-rep Bank while individual members of the cooperative who want to benefit from the initiative must also open an account with the bank.

There is no ceiling for loans while interest rate is negotiable at 16 percent. This will depend on the intended project and projections. Interest rates for farmers is also 16 percent although it is also negotiable.

 The cooperative will act as security for the members hence farmers will not be required to produce collateral in order to receive a loan. The partnership with FICCF is for 3 years while agreement with aggregator is continuous until loan is repaid. Repayment period will be agreed upon with the cooperative.

The cooperative is an aggregator of cereals but are planning to diversify to other value chains.  They have been addressing the challenges facing smallholder farmers in procuring farm inputs and marketing of produce. The cooperative has also been empowering smallholder farmers with skills to aggregate farm produce and become agribusiness oriented.

Samburu cooperators on a benchmarking mission in Laikipia

By Bob Aston

Laikipia West Sub County based Ng’arua Maarifa Centre on July 16, 2015 played host to a team of nine (9) cooperators from Samburu County who were on a benchmarking mission in Laikipia County.

The cooperators were at the Maarifa Centre to learn more about activities carried out by Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) through Ng’arua Maarifa Centre and also to exchange ideas with members of Laikipia Produce and Marketing Co-operative Society.

The cooperators at Ng'arua Maarifa Centre

Speaking during the visit, Mr. Mike Kumpan, Samburu County Cooperative Development Committee (CCDC) Chairman said that the group drawn from various cooperatives in Samburu County were keen to learn what their neighbours are doing.

He said that cooperatives from Samburu County are keen to adopt best practices from their neighbours to ensure continuous improvement of their products and services. The group identified Laikipia Produce and Marketing Co-operative Society as an institution that they can learn from.

“We are evaluating various aspects of our cooperatives in relation to best practices. Measuring our performance with other cooperatives will enable us to improve on what we are currently doing,” said Mr. Kumpan.

Mr. Waweru Kanja, Chairman, Laikipia Produce and Marketing Co-operative Society said that the cooperative is addressing the challenges facing smallholder farmers in procuring farm inputs and marketing of produce.

He said that as a result of engagement with other partners like ALIN, Netherlands Development Organizations (SNVs), Eastern African Grain Council (EAGC), MEA Ltd, Kilimo Biashara Profilers, Kenya Seed Company Ltd, Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme (ASDSP) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, the cooperative has been able to reach out to its members with a variety of services and also has increased its membership, sales and community good will.

Mr. Kumpan addressing the cooperators

“ We intend to become a leading  farmer   based organization,   increasing  the  wealth  ,food and  nutritional  security  of   small holder  farmers  in  Laikipia  County by empowering smallholder farmers with skills to aggregate farm produce and become agribusiness oriented,” said Mr. Kanja.

The benchmarking visit provided members of Laikipia Produce and Marketing Cooperative Society and the Samburu cooperators with an insight on how their organizations compares with others offering similar products and services. 

The leaders were also able to share knowledge on best cooperative practices as well as establishing linkages.

Mr. Noah Lusaka, ALIN Project Manager informed the Samburu County cooperators that the international organization has been partnering with County governments and specifically Laikipia and Kajiado County Governments to implement various projects.

He said that the organization will not hesitate to partner with Samburu County Government when the need arises. He said that the organization is keen on knowledge sharing and the visit came at an opportune time for Laikipia Produce and Marketing Cooperative Society as they will also be able to learn a lot from their counterpart.

Due to its nature of mobilizing communities into economic activities, the cooperative movement has been proven to play an active role in poverty alleviation, employment creation, food security and equitable distribution of natural resources.

Resource mobilization key to sustainability of cooperatives

By Bob Aston

Resource mobilization is critical to any cooperative as it is able to support an organizations sustainability. Speaking during a two days Resource Mobilization Workshop organized by Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) for Laikipia Produce and Marketing Co-operative Society at Ng’arua Maarifa Centre, Laikipia West Sub County on July 16-17, 2015, Mr. Anthony Mugo, ALIN Deputy Director said that resource mobilization always allows for improvement and scale up of products offered by cooperatives.

Participants during the workshop

Mr. Mugo said that the cooperative needs resources so that they can be effective and sustainable. In order to achieve this he said that the cooperative needs to ensure that they have good income streams, good management, a commitment to sustainability and financial resources.

Local support including good human resources, a supportive political, legal and fiscal environment is also important.

“Your performance as a cooperative today impacts your ability to generate resources tomorrow. We are glad that you have been building a good reputation which is also essential when mobilizing for resources,” said Mr. Mugo.

The resource mobilization workshop was organized to enable the cooperative to be sustainable and to maintain a healthy account that can provide solutions to the members many agricultural needs.

 The resource mobilization workshop was also intended to help the cooperative to tap into various resources from the county, national government and other organizations through proposal writing and fundraising.

Mr. Noah Lusaka, ALIN Project Manager urged the cooperative to also consider proposal writing as one of the ways of mobilizing resources. He said that before writing a proposal the cooperative needs to be clear about why and for whom they are writing the proposal to. The cooperative also needs to know the funder whom they are preparing the proposal.

Participants during the workshop

“You cannot hope to sell or promote a project if you do not know, and cannot present, a picture of your organization as a good risk. Resource mobilization efforts should align with the cooperative mission, objectives and vision,” said Mr. Lusaka.

The cooperative managed to map out existing resources, review their business plan and strategy as well as coming up with new sources of finance.

The Laikipia Produce and Marketing cooperative society emerged from the work undertaken by ALIN through Ng’arua Maarifa Centre with the support of the Ford Foundation’s Expanding Livelihoods for Poor Households Initiative (ELOPHI). It is a vehicle for bulking, marketing and trading in farm commodities and other products and services.

Resource mobilization refers to all activities involved in securing new and additional resources for an organization. It also involves making better use of, and maximizing existing resources.

Farmers start enjoying the benefit of being members of Laikipia Cooperative

By Bob Aston

The Laikipia Produce and Marketing cooperative society located at Gikomba Hills Complex in Sipili township, Ol-Moran Ward in Laikipia West Sub County emerged from the work undertaken by Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) through Ng’arua Maarifa Centre with the support of the Ford Foundation’s Expanding Livelihoods for Poor Households Initiative (ELOPHI).

ALIN through Ng’arua Maarifa Centre had been working with the smallholder farmers in Laikipia West Sub County by providing information and knowledge products focused on sustainable agriculture, climate change, sustainable land management (SLM), markets and natural resources management (NRM).

During interaction with farmers through open learning days, exchange visits and while providing advisory services, the organization learnt that most smallholder farmers experienced a lot of challenges in procurement of farm inputs and in marketing.

The organization then discussed with the Ng’arua Maarifa Centre focal group members on how best to address the issue of procurement of farm inputs and marketing and it was then that the idea of an organization to champion the interests of smallholder farmers was mooted.

Some members of the cooperative being trained on best agricultural practices

The main idea of forming focal groups is to improve contacts among network members, initiate some joint activities, encourage them to generate and share local development information and experiences.

“Forming the cooperative was a long journey. We first thought of starting a community based organization but later on we decided that a cooperative was ideal and would serve us better,” said Veronica Kemunto, Secretary Laikipia Produce and Marketing Co-operative Society.

Finally in June 2013 the cooperative was officially registered. With more than 300 members in 2015 the cooperative has now been able to address most of the challenges faced by smallholder farmers in Ol-Moran Ward.

“We had to hold a lot of meetings to convince other farmers to join the cooperative. Even coming up with the name required a series of meetings. During this period ALIN was always with us providing guidance and also organizing capacity building trainings,” said Waweru Kanja, Chairman, Laikipia Produce and Marketing Co-operative Society.

Mr. Kanja noted that although the cooperative is still young they have managed to achieve a lot. He said that the support provided to the cooperative by partners that include; ALIN, SNV- Netherlands Development Organization, Kenya Seed Company Ltd, MEA Ltd, Kilimo Biashara Profilers, Eastern African Grain Council (EAGC) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock has enabled the cooperative to undertake a lot of activities on behalf of the members.

“ We intend to become a leading  farmer   based organization,   increasing  the  wealth  ,food and  nutritional  security  of   small holder  farmers  in  Laikipia  County by empowering smallholder farmers with skills to aggregate farm produce and become agribusiness oriented,” said Mr. Kanja.

Some of the objectives of the cooperative include; to increase  the  number  of  registered   small holder farmers  in  Laikipia West  from   280 to 1000, to   continuously  help link smallholder  farmers  with  a  fair  market  like  Home Grown School Feeding Program (HGSFP) and  reducing  exploitation  by  middlemen, to form  partnership  with  input  producers  in  order  to secure  farm  inputs  at  fair prices  to reduce  production  cost, to open an agro-input store in Sipili with all farm inputs, to open four new branches in the next three years and to increase the society operating capital from 536,000 to 2.5 million by December 2015.

Some members of the cooperative with certified hybrid seeds

Mr. Kanja noted that the cooperative has already made sales totaling Ksh 7,608,081 through trading in maize and beans, selling of certified maize and bean seeds as well as selling of fertilizer. He said that they are now planning to open an agro shop, agency banking for cooperative, Post Bank and Equity Bank, Safaricom Mpesa and Airtel money agency as well as a Savings and Credit Cooperative (SACCO).

The cooperative’s mandate is mainly to aggregate the farming communities by pooling them together and empowering them to take control of their farm’s enterprises, aggregation of farm produce and collective marketing to enhance their bargaining power and profit margins.

The cooperative is already a Cooperative Bank Agent, Post Bank Mashinani Agent, Pioneer Hi-Bred Agent and the Kenya Seed Company Ltd Agent. The cooperative has also been supported by SNV to become one of its Grain Business Hubs (GBH).The Grain Business Hub model functions as a collective supportive businesses and services that help the production activities of member farmers. It does this through managing the collection, distribution, and marketing of food products, mainly grains, from farmers.

“As members of the cooperative we have been able to boost our bargaining power. Through seeds and fertilizer services, the cooperative has been able to control market prices in Sipili township and reduced cases of fake seeds,” Said Mrs. Kemunto.

Despite cooperatives playing a major role in resource mobilization, agro-processing and marketing of agricultural produce, most smallholder farmers particularly in rural areas are always reluctant to join cooperatives due to past experiences with the cooperative movement.

“The notion that most cooperatives are always mismanaged is not true. This year I managed to buy the subsidized government fertilizer through the cooperative. I managed to save a lot of money and time going to Nyahururu to look for the subsidized fertilizer but thanks to the cooperative I was able to avoid the extra cost,” said Naomi Ngonyo, member of Laikipia Produce and Marketing Cooperative Society.

The Kenyan Co-operative movement is rated first in Africa and seventh (7) globally among the developed movements by the International Co-operative Alliance. The movement has played and continues to empower communities and individuals both socially and economically through wealth creation, food security and generation of employment and therefore alleviating movement.