Small-holder farmers to earn more from selling directly to UK

By Aloyse Muinde

Nairobi,Kenya:A  scheme by Britain to get more Kenyan produce in Europe stores by buying directly from farmers is in the offing. The move promises farmers higher earnings as the scheme cuts middlemen who have eaten up into farmers earnings.

The scheme is being supported by grants from the Food Retail Industry Challenge Fund in the UK. It will help both African farmers and British businesses like Sainsbury’s and Taylors of Harrogate.

Horticultural products from across East and Southern Africa, particularly coffee from Zambia, Uganda, and Tanzania dots UK supermarkets. But it is the range of fruit and vegetables from Kenya that is most notable.

local items

In the city of Brighton, south coast of England, Kenyan sugar snap peas, beans and fruit such as strawberries are already making inroads in most retail shops thanks to the Fairtrade arrangement which is meant to give better access to farmers in key markets.

The scheme has been hailed by industry players as a move in the right direction coming at an opportune time when majority of farmers who sell through middlemen continue to loose up to 40 per cent of their earnings.

A study by Bridgenet Africa, a farmer oriented NGO, early this year indicated that in certain instances, farmers were earning half of what they were entitled to, thanks in part to the money hungry brokers and middlemen.

“In one instance where farmers of a particular group were exporting strawberry leaves, a single leaf would pick Sh3 in UK but farmers would earn just 50 cents. It has been that serious,” said Karisa Vendo a programme officer at the organisation.

 But farmers, limited by export market information still make do with middlemen who come right into their farms promising them good pay. The direct market access schemes mean farmers will earn more and get motivated to even supply more according to Karisa.

 This means that local fresh produces will earn the economy billions will enjoy more uptake by farmers. “This is an incentive in the right direction.

Farmer support

Europe has discovered the quality and value of Kenyan produce. It  realises that the only way to get more supplies from Kenya is to ensure farmers fully benefit from what they sell. This is the way to go,” he further added.

A report from the London-based World Development Movement said that its latest research showed that Fairtrade sales broke the ($1.6 billion) mark in 2010, showing that even during a recession, consumers still consider the impact of their buying decisions.

Last year, Marks and Spencer, a major retail outlet in Britain, entered into an agreement with Iriaini Tea Factory in Othaya, Nyeri County to stock packaged tea directly from the factory.

This move that has cemented partnership between Kenyan tea factories and retail outlets in Europe.  Under the partnership farmers would now earn 30-40 per cent more than they were earning when they sold their tea through agents.

But with this scheme comes an onerous task on the farmers’ part most whose produce have continually been rejected in Europe.

It fails to meet the Eurep gap standards — a common standard for farm management practice created by European retail stores and their major suppliers meant to bring conformity to different retailers’ supplier standards.

In a move to ensure farmers were aware of the export standards required of them, the Kenya’s Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya this year unveiled a Swahili translation of the global quality standards manual.

 This will help horticultural farmers understand the standards they must observe, following failures by individual farmers that have triggered a run of outright bans on all Kenyan goods.            —FarmBiz Africa