Farmers urged to embrace the latest receipting system to combat losses

National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) warehouse in Nakuru town. It is among warehouses certified for the Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) programme. [Kennedy Gachuhi, Nakuru].

Farmers from across the country have been urged to embrace the Warehouse Receipt Systems (WRS) initiated by the Government, to re-engineer credit access and save them from post-harvest losses. 

In an interview with The Standard, WRS Council acting CEO, Samwel Ogola, said the system will go a long way in increasing lending to farmers for individual and national economic development. 

“Despite being our key economic driver and link to food security, only five per cent of bank lending in the country goes to agriculture. Warehousing is the new game-changer in agribusiness,” said Ogola. 

The government, through the WRS Council, has already certified several public warehouses in Nakuru, Kitale and Eldoret.

Ogola said selected National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), Kenya Farmers Association (KFA) and Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (KPCU) facilities are among those certified by the Council.

Through the programme, the Council, through the Ministry of Agriculture, aims to ease credit access for smallholder farmers, whose engagement with financial institutions has been an ongoing challenge.