Farmers register to weed out maize cartels

The National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) will only buy maize from farmers registered with the Ministry of Agriculture.PHOTO: COURTESY

The National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) will only buy maize from farmers registered with the Ministry of Agriculture.

According to the board, the move is aimed at weeding out cartels and middlemen.

"Farmers who are not in the register are advised to register immediately at the respective County Agricultural Offices to qualify to sell their maize to NCPB in the current season," the said the Agriculture Ministry said in an advert in the local dailies yesterday.

But farmers in the North Rift expressed concerns over the manner in which the government wants them to register at the county agricultural offices before availing their produce in a week's time.

NCPB is currently accepting wheat produce and is expected to begin receiving maize from November 15.

Farmers in the region called on the agriculture ministry to engage them before rolling out the exercise noting that even though the move is welcome, most of them might be locked out.

"The ministry is dedicated in stemming out brokers who have constantly denied us a chance to reap from our labour, however most of us need to be adequately informed on the registration exercise so that we can comply with the government directive," said David Sirma, a large scale farmer from Uasin Gishu.

Sirma said the government through the grain reserve officials should have opened temporary stores at the ward level where farmers will avail their produce to avoid long queues at NCPB depots.

"There is no need for us to mill around NCPB'S which has proved to be a costly affair yet we can comfortably register and harvest our produce in the farms and sell it at our nearby centres, such a move will also prevent middlemen from taking advantage of our hard earned produce," said Sirma.

Kenya Farmers Association (KFA) director Kipkorir Menjo welcomed the move and insisted that the ministry should also educate farmers on the need to form cooperatives where they will be able to jointly air their concerns.

"The government is headed to the right direction because it is now apparent that they want to protect farmers from unscrupulous middlemen, they should also sensitize them on forming groups where they can be able to transform and even benefit from loans," he added.

Uasin Gishu county executive member in charge of agriculture, Dr. Cyril Cheruiyot, said 48,000 maize farmers have been registered.

The board will be buying maize from the farmers at Sh3000 per bag.