Narok farmers raise alarm over reduced purchase of barley

KENYA: Barley farmers in Narok County want to be allowed to sell their surplus harvest in the free market after their sole buyer, East African Maltings Ltd (EAML) cut down its buying capacity from 67,000 to 47,000 tonnes.

EAML, which supplies barley to East Africa Breweries Ltd, has slashed its buying capacity even as farmers protested against the move they say will affect those who are servicing bank loans ahead of the June planting season.

EAML General Manager Laurence Maina said due to the shrinking market, they were asking farmers to reduce their acreage, saying they will only buy from contracted farmers.

“We had a target of 55,000 tonnes last year but in the February/March season, we received 67,000 tonnes where we still have them in our stores but no market and we are therefore requesting farmers to reduce the acreage in the coming season,” he said during a meeting with the farmers at a hotel in Narok town on Tuesday. The farmers who were drawn from barley-growing areas such as Entoltol, Oloropil, Olkurto and Oljororok differed with the directive, saying it will impact negatively on the crop they have been growing for over 40 years.

John Ole Ratia, a commercial barley farmer, said EAML ambushed them as they did not issue an early notice to the farmers that they will not be buying all of their produce.