Baringo governor Benjamin Cheboi has committed to spearheading a campaign that will ensure all coffee potential areas in the county benefit from high quality coffee seedlings.
Speaking at the Baringo Cha Coffee Mill at Katimok in Baringo North when he presided over the official launch of 500,000 subsidized coffee seedlings, Governor Cheboi said his administration is committed to increasing the wealth of local farmers and cushioning them from unscrupulous individuals who might want to take advantage of them.
The Baringo boss said his aim was to see farmers from across the six sub counties dictate the market by determining the price and who to buy.
“We want to get as many seedlings as possible to be planted by our farmers because we now have a direct market to South Korea and other parts of Europe,” he said.
Cheboi said the dream would only be realized when all the stakeholders team up to promote the lucrative sector.
“For every coffee bush we want to increase its yields to 12 kilogrammes and that can only be realized if we observe good crop husbandry with the help of our extension officers who will work hand in hand with farmers to give advice on best practices,” he said.
Rev Cha Bo Yong, a Korean Investor, who challenged residents to change their mindset and grab available opportunities, said Baringo has enormous potential of becoming a global powerhouse.
“Baringo is not poor nor is it less developed. There are so many opportunities, so let us change our mindset,” he told residents.
The investor who has collaborated with Baringo county government in setting up a Sh100 million coffee factory urged farmers in the county to avail the cash crop since it is in their proximity and also provides a direct linkage to international markets.
County Executive Committee Member (CEC) for Agriculture Risper Chepkonga said the distributed seedlings were sourced from registered cooperative societies in order to ensure high quality produce.
Chepkonga added that her department has drafted a planting guide manual to provide requisite information to local smallholder producers.
Outgoing Tugen Hills Cooperative Society chairperson Mark Yatich, whose society is hosting the milling plant, called on farmers to increase the acreage under coffee production to ensure sustainability of the machine.
He noted that the factory which has the potential to mill 10 tonnes daily did not realise its potential during its first year of operation due to low supply of raw materials.
“In our first milling done last year, we only managed to mill 90 tons of coffee and going by the capacity of the mill that could just take nine hours or less,” he stated.
However, Yatich said that he is optimistic that things would change in the next two to three years after county administration and other partners embark on distribution of quality seedlings to farmers at a subsidized price.
By Benson Kelio and Joshua Kibet
