How 'un-bankable' farmers are finally accessing credit

Alice Gituka (right) a dairy farmer and Esther Kariuki, Co-op Bank's head of Agriculture Business, feed one of Alice's cows with dairy meal financed through a farm-inputs loan facility from the bank. [Gardy Chacha, Standard]

Following the collapse of Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC) in 1990s, a group of 35 small-scale milk producers in Kirinyaga (some with just one milking cow) formed a self-help group.

They called themselves Kirima Slopes Self-Help Group. "The idea was to look for a market for our milk," says Samuel Wachira, the group's treasurer today.