Joy as over 1,500 farmers get back title deeds from AFC

Agriculture PS Richard Lesiyampe (right) and AFC board chairman Franklin Bett (centre) display one of the title deeds. [Robert Kiplagat]

The Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) has handed back 1,000 title deeds to Narok farmers after waiving loans amounting to Sh300 million.

More than 1,500 farmers who were unable to repay their loans after their crops failed and livestock died due to drought got back their titles, which had been used as security.

Agriculture Principal Secretary Richard Lesiyampe, AFC board chairman Franklin Bett and AFC Managing Director Lucas Meso urged farmers to embrace modern agriculture practices to avoid further losses.

Recently, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced the waiver of AFC loans amounting to Sh1.5 billion owed by farmers in pastoral counties such as Narok, Kajiado, Baringo and Samburu.

Mr Bett however cautioned the farmers who received their title deeds not to use them to sell their land but to further their agricultural activities.

"We are set to bail out more than 200,000 farmers across the country going by the presidential directive and all a farmer needs is a national identity card. This is real and those saying it is not true are liars," said Bett.

Maximum returns

He also revealed that AFC would monitor how the farmers used their loans after approving their proposals to ensure that they got maximum returns from their farming while also servicing their loans with ease.

Dr Lesiyampe promised to help farmers not to fall back into debt.

"We are working on a programme with the existing Government crop and livestock insurance to ensure that our farmers are not mortgaged over loans."

The majority of farmers who received their title deeds, which had been held for more than a decade, could not hide their excitement and thanked the Government and their local leaders for being at the forefront of the fight for the waiver.

"We thank the Government for this initiative. It is a big relief for those of us who were on the verge of losing our land. Some farmers have died of stress and some are depressed. But now we can go back to serious farming," said Stanley Koonyo, the farmers' spokesman.