Some Trans Nzoia farmers reject private warehousing for their crop

Bags of Maize at the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) warehouse in Nakuru on March 15, 2021.[Kipsang Joseph,Standard]

"I don't understand what informed this initiative for it is not beneficial to the farmer in any way. Instead, it is the middlemen who would reap big just for providing storage space when the farmer has engaged in the whole production stages," he pointed out.
At the same time, he observed that farmers want to produce and sell their produce instantly they harvest for the production chain to continue as they embark to cultivate again and rather not produce and store yet they need the constant turnovers.
In Trans Nzoia, the county government established five mega stores, one in each of the five sub-counties but they have often remained empty as farmers shy away instead of opting to store their own produce.
Only a handful of entrepreneurs have established or converted their premises to be used in the WRP but their businesses are yet to get a boom.
Kwanza MP Ferdinand Wanyonyi said that the uptake of the program was low and called on stakeholders to popularize its benefits observing that farmers lacked awareness.
Wanyonyi said he would engage agricultural stakeholders to promote the program and ensure that adequate sensitisation is made to alleviate the notion by a section of the farmers that the initiative was a dubious scheme.
National Cereals and Produce Board MD Joseph Kimote encouraged farmers to embrace the program saying it ensures safety and quality maintenance.