Wool farmers in Kenya's Elgeyo Marakwet want better prices

ELGEYO, KENYA: Sheep farmers at Lelan in Elgeyo Marakwet have threatened to abandon the enterprise citing poor wool prices and exploitation by middlemen who buy the products at throw away prices.
They have now asked the county government to instead buy the wool and sell them on behalf of the farmers because the venture was proving to be non-profitable.
Daniel Chemweno a merino sheep farmer in the area said the animal gives them a lot of wool which would have transformed livelihoods of residents but the prices are very low. He said the top grade wool rated as M1 goes for less sh 120 a kilo which would have fetched up to sh 300.
"We are being exploited by the middlemen who come and buy the wool at throw away prices because they know we have nowhere else to sell it," said the farmer adding they rely on two buying centres situated at Kibigos and Kaptalamwa trading centres.
Another sheep farmer Sammy Ruto called on the county government to urgently construct several collection points where wool will be stored and graded awaiting a buyer who cannot exploit them.
"If we could have a collection point, then no farmer will be vulnerable to exploitation by the unscrupulous middlemen but they will be forced to negotiate for better prices or we venture into a partnership with textile production firms," said Ruto.
Area ward representative Charles Chemase blamed the poor pricing of wool on the collapse of the cooperative system in the region.