Migori County and the Kenya National Farmers’ Association have embarked on a registration process to identify and categorize farmers into various value chain clusters.
Migori County Director of Agriculture Linus Origa said that the main aim of clustering farmers was to establish their population as well as their value chains.
Origa noted that with the right data on farmers, the county can be able to plan and execute agricultural functions to help in food production through subsidized farm inputs and marketing.
He added that the identification will enable the department of agriculture to map out different types of entrepreneurship and how best to engage donors and sponsors.
The official added that the registration process will help farmers access loans and grants to help improve food production in the region.
Migori County-Kenya National Farmers’ Association (KENAFF) Chairperson Peter Mwita said they will work with the county to ensure that a proper database is generated from all farmers in the county
Mwita emphasized that by identifying and clustering farmers according to their respective enterprises KENAFF will have an easy time in terms of establishing markets among its members.
Migori County is one of the rich agricultural areas in South Nyanza with maize, rice, fish, beans groundnuts and sweet potatoes being produced for sale.
“We want our farmers to benefit from their bulky agricultural produce and explore the foreign markets to get value for their money. This can only be achieved if we have a database that is able to identify our farmers as well as their enterprises in the value chain process,” noted Mwita.
He acknowledged that the farmers’ registration exercise will take place in all the 40 wards across the county with the help of the agronomists and extension officers.
By Geoffrey Makokha
