Farmers in Narok County can breathe a sigh of relief after the county government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Apollo Agriculture to boost small scale farmers with an aim of increasing productivity.
Apollo Agriculture Representative Peter Muthie said the company gives credit in the form of farm inputs to maize farmers with less than three acres of land.
The company, he said, entered Narok last year after a visibility study that showed the area is good for maize farming and that many farmers had ventured into maize farming.
“Narok is one of the 21 counties that Apollo Agriculture has ventured into to boost farmers since its inception in 2017. We are hoping to reach more counties in the near future,” said Muthie.
The company, he said, intends to sponsor over 10, 000 maize farmers in the county hence the reason why the company was formalizing its engagement with the county government.
“Countrywide we are targeting over 200, 000 farmers. Our main aim is to ensure the small scale farmers are empowered and grow to be big scale farmers,” he said.
In addition, the company trains its farmers through a free phone calls where they instruct farmers on the best farming practices to maximize profits.
The company has agents placed in various trading centers across the county who link the farmers to their services.
The Narok Agriculture Chief Officer Dr. David Letuati said the initiative is a big plus to the farmers in the county as they would get free training, which is a very important aspect in the signed MoU.
“This is the beginning of planting season and we call upon our farmers to utilize the services provided by Apollo Agriculture so that they can benefit from their products,” said Dr. Letuati.
He reiterated that the intention of their department is to maximize production in the county and boost food security in the county.
“What we want is to see extra acreage of maize and more production. We know maize is the staple food for the county hence the initiative will boost the food production,” he said.
They were speaking at Narok Farmers Training Institute after holding a closed door meeting with agriculture officials and Narok County Secretary.
By Ann Salaton
