Farmers in Migori county have welcomed the move by the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) to allow them leeway to store their produce at the facility’s depots.
Led by Kenya National Federation of Farmers (KEFFA)-Migori branch Chairperson Peter Chacha, the farmers said maize storage has been quite a challenge in the county, where most farmers lack proper facilities to store their cereals.
Most of the local growers are small-scale farmers, who do not see the need for a proper storage facility because the larger portion of their produce is for food consumption.
However, Chacha is now encouraging small-scale farmers to ensure proper storage facilities to eradicate aflatoxin and ensure safety of the consumer.
A farmer from Kuria region, Peter Marwa acknowledged that lack of information about storage facilities at the NCPB has caused huge losses farmers in the area due to poor handling during post-harvesting period.
Marwa said that proper education needs to be passed over to farmers to enlighten them on proper storage ideas for them to earn more.
He stressed that NCPB subjects farmers to intense maize scrutiny by checking aflatoxin, moisture content and quality of the maize, forcing them to shy away and sell their produce to middlemen, who ends up exploiting them.
He disclosed that maize price in Migori is currently retailing at Sh1,200 per 90kg sack, due to exploitation from the middlemen, who know that farmers cannot take their produce to NCPB.
Chacha called upon the NCPB in conjunction with the county government to come up with proper strategies on how they can educate cereal farmers on proper post-harvesting methods to reap better returns from government prices.
Meanwhile, only recently Migori county government promised farmers that they would be deploying extension field officers with the aim of training and passing agricultural knowledge and skills to help farmers produce better crops.
Early this month, while visiting various NCPB depots in the county, the Chairperson of the NCPB Samwel Ragwa urged farmers to sell their produce to the government for better profits.
Ragwa said that NCPB can store farmers’ produce upon sending a formal request, whereby the produce can be stored for at least 2 months.
He noted that currently, the government prices for a 90-kilogram bag of maize was Sh4,000, while urging farmers to utilise the opportunity, instead of selling their producer to middlemen at a throw-away price.
The chairperson stated that the government will not buy imported maize purported to be from Kenyan farmers, adding that all maize will be subjected to stern scrutiny before being purchased by the government.
By Geoffrey Makokha
