Eldoret, Kenya: The National Cereals and Produce Board will change its name to Grain Corporation of Kenya (GCK) in a restructuring process aimed at boosting profitability.
Speaking in Eldoret during a stakeholders’ workshop to deliberate on a report on structuring the parastatal, Managing Director Newton Terer said the transformation is important to both farmers and key players because it will strengthen service delivery across the country.
He said they are educating farmers on how the new structure will boost productivity and address emerging issues in the grain sector.
“The proposed GCK will mainly focus on establishing a corporate commercial body which will be used to realise its profits, unlike the previous body,” he said.
The MD said NCPB has been facing numerous challenges occasioned by the Government’s failure to replenish the Strategic Grain Reserve on time as well as a dysfunctional warehouse receipting system. Terer said the changes will diversify the parastatal’s operations to improve income and add value to its various commodities.
He said the establishment of new institutions in the structure which will include National Food Security Agency, which seeks to replace Strategic Grains Reserve and focus on strategic food reserve. The Commodity Exchange (COMMEX) is also part of the proposed units where market grains are traded.
Market pricing
The MD said the proposed restructuring also seeks to introduce a Grain Sector Regulator to supervise and license market players in the grain industry.
“The regulator will be important to farmers who have always encountered challenges while selling their produce to millers and NCPB because they will be aware of the preferred market pricing,” he said. Terer said the proposed changes will ensure compliance with the standard rules and regulations given by the sector. Uasin Gishu County executive member for Agriculture Cyril Cheruiyot said farmers will benefit from the changes.
