Uasin Gishu, Netherlands partnership to protect farmers from post-harvest losses, improve food security

Uasin Gishu, Wednesday, May 17, 2023

KNA by Ekuwam Sylvester/Caren Rutto

The County Government of Uasin Gishu has partnered with Netherlands through the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to support farmers to adopt Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) to agricultural productivity, manage post-harvest losses and increase income of farmers.

The Warehouse Receipt System allows owners of commodities to deposit the commodities in any of the certified warehouses in the country and are issued with Warehouse Receipt as proof of ownership. They can use the receipt as collateral to access credit facilities from financial institutions.

Speaking during a visit to Uasin Gishu with a delegation from the IFC, a team from the State Department of Trade and Warehouse Receipt System to discuss with farmers on the challenges they face especially on post-harvest losses, the Deputy Head of Mission Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands Mr Joris Bommel reiterated the need for strong partnership between the Netherlands, Kenya and the county to address some of the challenges farmers face in order boost agricultural production.

“We have reports from the past years that productivity for farmers is increasing which is good. There are a lot of post-harvest losses which are a threat to food security and farmers’ income. This is a serious issue in the sector which needs to be addressed,” he said.

The envoy indicated that the Netherlands together with the IFC will work closely with the national government, county government together with the private sector to improve on the Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) to increase productivity and income of farmers.

“By embracing WRS we can increase productivity and make sure that the income of farmers also increases. This is key in ensuring food security for the country and the county,” said Mr. Bommel.

He praised the long-standing friendship between his country and Kenya and the already established cordial cooperation in terms of logistics, agriculture and other sectors such as water renewable energy, health and bioscience.

Bommel called for strengthened cooperation at the national and the county level in agriculture, health, logistics, energy and water.

Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Chelilim revealed that they had discussed the county’s partnership with IFC in order to attract and promote private sector investment in agriculture and other sectors.

Noting that agriculture plays a very vital role in the Kenyan economy, Chelilim commended the Warehouse Receipt System Council (WRSC) for developing and implementing the WRS to facilitate structured agricultural commodity trade to help farmers to access credit facility by selling their produce as collateral.

“We are committed as county government to support the WRSC on any initiatives or programmes that are aimed at promoting aggregation and warehouse receipt system,” said Chelilim.

He acknowledged IFC for supporting the private sector to develop as he requested the corporation to support WRS in licensing Moi-Soy warehouse and considering funding the same to support the county’s dream of value addition in maize.

The Governor also indicated that they had discussed other areas of collaboration between the county government, Netherlands, IFC and the WRSC like agricultural research and development, trade and infrastructure.

“We have explored other areas where the county government would collaborate with the WRSC, IFC and the Netherlands to promote agricultural development in our county. This includes combined technical assistance to farmers, improved access to credit, promoting value addition or strengthening the agricultural value chains,” he noted.

He acknowledged the Netherlands support for the county’s development agenda by supporting potato farmers in Ainabkoi Sub County and looking forward to the expansion of the warehouse and at the automation of the sorting process and value addition of the potato to derive maximum value of the farmers.

Chelilim affirmed his support of the president’s idea on warehouse commodity exchange adding that his administration had committed Sh 100 million to top up to the another Sh 100 million the government had given for the programme.

In her remarks, Lucy Komen from the WRSC, said that the council is envisioned to structure agricultural trade to see the farmer going not on the road trying to market the commodity but have access to market through the WRS and realize value for their crops.

“We are looking at a space where post-harvest losses are managed, where there is financial inclusivity especially for the women and youth, we are looking where there is an increased market for the commodities,” said Ms. Komen.

The IFC, Netherlands Embassy and the County team visited Soy-Mateng, Moi-Soy milling plant, Kabenes, Moi’s bridge to exchange ideas on how to improve agricultural productivity.

Courtesy; K.N.A