Migori County Government has held a training session for farmers from different sub-counties in Migori to help them increase soya bean production after several tobacco processing factories pulled out of the region.
Speaking to the press at Agriculture Training College (ATC) in Kisii town, Kisii County, Migori County Agriculture Director, Ms. Francisca Onyango, said the two weeks Farmers’ Business Field School (FBFS) sessions will help them to market their yields.
“In this workshop, we are targeting farmers of Migori who grow soya beans which is an alternative for tobacco and so, we are teaching all the husbandry aspects of soya beans. The training will cover the spacing, growing, disease control and marketing aspect,” she explained.
Ms. Onyango added that the trainees will be taken for benchmarking in a field trip to help them understand proper soya bean farming aspects and share the same knowledge with farmers in their various sub-counties and wards in Migori County.
She highlighted that soya farmers lack the right information and knowledge about growing this crop which is why the Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) has partnered with the county for capacity building and establishing FBFS.
“From here, we are going to start farmers’ business schools in every ward where we will be teaching the farmers how to plant soya beans, disease control, harvesting and even drying through practical ways. We are building our farmers’ capacity to grow soya beans in a profitable way,” Ms. Onyango added.
Migori also has farming community coaches linked to aggregators that the Director of Agriculture says will check on the farmers growing soya beans and the quantity they produce before setting the prices.
“The prices of soya beans have not been high of late but we will want them (aggregators) to come into a kind of contract so that they know how much we are expecting from this crop by the time the farmers are going to plant,” she said.
Migori County Director of Livestock, Mr. Charles Ogechi Nyaanga, said that the training is also involving poultry farming which has attracted various partners.
“FAO has come to address issues of market. We have Blue Cross and National Agriculture Rural Inclusivity program who funded one of the producer organizations and already we have a slaughter slab,” Mr, Nyaanga added.
By Erastus Michieka and Mercy Osongo
