Farmers being exploited by brokers, middlemen

Farmers are exploited by middlemen who buy the produce at throwaway price. [File, Standard]

Farmers in Kenya do all the hard work while all the money goes to undeserving brokers and middlemen. Theirs is a tragic case of exploitation and loss rather than prosperity.

The challenges farmers encounter when dealing with commodity brokers, paints a picture that would be comical in its absurdity were it not so tragic. A friend, after performing what he describes as "serious math" - using a napkin to tally figures, multiply here, deduct costs there - decided that farming was a profitable venture.