The County Government of Kirinyaga has trained officials of recently launched Ward Based multi-value chain Saccos in order to enhance their capacity to run the cooperatives effectively.
The 172 officials drawn from the 20 wards were trained on money lending, insurance and collateral on loans among other Sacco management good practices.
The capacity building was carried out in partnership with CIC Insurance and Cooperative Bank.
The multi-value chain SACCOs were founded with the aim of providing farmers with affordable operational capital, savings and credit services, farm inputs as well as value addition and bulk marketing opportunities. Their membership currently stands at around 6,000 farmers involved in priority value chains such as avocado, tomatoes, poultry, banana, dairy goat farmers among others. The farmers were earlier organized into Common Interest Groups (CIGs).
Governor, Anne Waiguru, said that the SACCOs were a component of Wezesha Kirinyaga Program, through which the County Government has been supporting farmers to increase agricultural production and productivity for improved household income.
She said the County government supported the formation of the SACCOs through the provision of office equipment such as computers and printers, as well as Sh12.3 million to enable them meet the initial running costs that included paying for statutory documentation, training of staff, office rent and member mobilization.
Waiguru pointed out that the initiative is also a strategy to position the county farmers as the number one suppliers of raw agricultural produce to the upcoming agro-processing factories at Sagana Industrial Park thus enabling them earn more money.
The County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Agriculture, Dr. John Gachara, who spoke during the training at Kutus Catholic Church Hall, said that since the SACCOs were formed, they have worked hard towards mobilizing many farmers to join and have managed to raise Sh14.5 million in terms of share capital, registration, and savings. They have also been able to lend about Sh6.5 million as loans to members.
Dr Gachara said that affordable SACCO loans have enabled farmers to acquire agricultural inputs and meet other requirements and then repay after harvesting and selling their produce. He added that the capacity building will ensure that members’ resources were safeguarded through prudent management of the SACCOs.
The SACCO officials who went through the capacity-building program expressed their gratitude to the County Government for supporting them and ensuring that they were equipped with the right tools and knowledge to effectively operate their cooperatives.
“We shall now be able to give loans to our members without much worry because we now know how to insure the loans that we will be giving out,” said Evangeline Kamau, the Secretary of Murinduko Amani Farmers SACCO.
Cyrus Muchiri, the Chairman of Nyangati Springs SACCO, said that the multi-value chain Saccos will enable farmers to transition from subsistence to commercial farming since they will access affordable operational capital.
He lauded Governor Waiguru for the initiative, which he said was transforming the county through agriculture.
Mutira Wings SACCO that has already recruited more than 500 members, has mobilized about Sh2 million that has been lent out to members, with its Chairman, Joseph Njiru, noting that the Saccos initiative was very beneficial to smallholder farmers.
By David Wandeto
