market

: 30 May 2019; Hits: 5805

SokoFreshi connects more than 100,000 farmers to local and international markets

Buyers and sellers of farmers’ produce can now trade their produce by using SOKOFRESHI, a mobile phone application that is aimed at opening up the commodity market.

SOKOFRESHI has so far linked more than 100,000 farmers to markets across to local and international markets.

In this, farmers can sell over 100 products at the comfort of their homes by dialing *415*22# to activate their accounts with Sh100 through lipa na mpesa till number 979041.

To buy a product, one needs to register as a buyer by dialing the same number *415*22# and select the product they want to buy such as avocados, carrots, or maize whereby they will automatically get the contacts of the sellers of the produce.

SokoFreshi brings together rural farmers close to buyers of the produce. It also offers a platform for manufacturers, food packers, investors and technology innovators to interact with the farmers. It enables participants to share and showcase agricultural production and value addition opportunities.

Elias Kabiru, a rabbit buyer for instance has managed to buy over fifty rabbits from farmers since 2017 after registering with SOKOFRESHI where he has managed to receive a list of rabbit farmers via his mobile phone.

“Initially, I had difficulties in buying rabbits and had to place posters in Kikuyu town to find out potential rabbit farmers, however I now have a long list of farmers to buy from through the connection with the mobile telephony service,” said Kabiru.

The businessman used to buy four to five rabbits in a week but now buys more than 20 rabbit at Sh5,000 each but the price may vary depending on the size and age.

Kenyan avocados cleared to enter the expansive Chinese market

Youth using his knowledge to train and help farmers in crop production, further linking them to markets

crop grow

French beans farmer

In 2017, Kenyan farmers lost 1.9m tonnes of food as they struggled to find markets according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

Of the total food wasted, maize, Kenya’s staple food was the most affected with the country losing Sh29.6bn worth of the crop yet it imported another bunch worth Sh42bn.

Green bananas were the second most affected crop as farmers lost Sh24bn worth of the produce.

Other produce that went to waste due to poor storage and handling, transport, and fungi attack, according to data contained in the 2018 Economic Survey released in April, includes Irish potatoes (Sh19.7bn), milk (Sh12.4bn), beans (Sh11.5bn), ripe yellow bananas (Sh5.6bn), sweet potatoes (Sh3.5bn), tomatoes (Sh2.4bn), pineapples (Sh2.4bn), sorghum (Sh1.9bn), and millet (Sh1.6bn).

According to the survey, Kenya loses approximately a third of its produce yearly through post-harvest losses and wastage by consumers who buy more food than they can consume.

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: 29 May 2019; Hits: 6538

Fresh fruits buyer and supplier looses tender rules to offer market to all producers

Ripe pawpaw fruits. Smallholders across the East Africa region to get market after buyer accepts delivery from all. Photo courtesy.

Unlike other companies which normally place tough-tender rules that lockout cash-starved low scale producers, Fresh a Juici Ltd has loosened the supply tender rules to allow all producers either in groups or individuals to deliver their fresh fruits.

The Limuru based company in Nairobi has its branches in Mombasa and outside the country in Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda and all their customers are advised to deliver the produce at designated warehouses, mostly located near the supermarket's outlets where they are checked for quality and weighed.

Contract and delivery procedure

All a farmer has to do is to sign a delivery contract which states the type of fruit, quantity and payment mode at the company’s head office located in Limuru.

During the time, the farmer should come with samples of the fruits he has produced so as to be advised on whether the quality meets the company’s threshold.

‘’The prices are negotiated according to the prevailing market prices as the company does not condone exploitation. Furthermore, the company also provides free advisory services to such farmers as a means of improving their business,’’ reads the statement posted on the company’s website.

Currently, the firm deals with at least 80 per cent of their suppliers are local small scale farmers while it supplies the fruits to various supermarket outlets and food retail chains across East Africa bringing a new market to the doorsteps of rural smallholder fruit farmers.

Normally, such farmers would only sell their produce through hawking in local markets, often incurring huge losses due to the perishable nature of their produce.

Apart from fruits, the company has two other businesses; Shree Ganesh Vegetable Limited and Fresh Squeeze, both of which deal in the supply of vegetables and fresh fruit juice in supermarket stalls around East Africa.

The company can be reached on 0733 333376/ 0202325945 or Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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: 28 May 2019; Hits: 6903

Nandi farmer looking for buyers for his tea seedlings

In 2016, Robert Choge started raising tea seedlings as a side hustle for sale at his rural home in Nandi, a tea growing region. The agribusiness did well in the first two years; however, he is now facing inadequate market due to changing weather conditions this year that led to delayed rains forcing farmers to shelve their plans.

“I have 58,000 tea seedlings ready for transplanting and I am selling each at between Sh11 to Sh12,” said Choge.

Farmers interested in purchasing the seedlings can visit his farm at Kipsigak junction, Nandi County.

Choge, an assistant manager at a Nairobi based marketing communications firm started the venture in July 2016 with an initial capital investment of Sh24,000 from his savings at the job. He used Sh6,000 to buy 20,000 sachets for transplanting, Sh16,000 for labor, Sh4,000 to buy polythene covers.

Of the 20,000 seedlings he planted, 16,000 matured while the rest died. In this, he planted 8,000 seedlings on his two acre farm inherited from his father and sold the rest to local farmers.

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Tea robert

Robert Choge (center) superving casuals watering tea seedlings at his Nandi farm.

“In the 2017/18 season, I ploughed back the profits by scaling up my production to 30,000 seedlings using Sh60,000 to buy tubes at Sh10,000, labor Sh25,000, polythene covers Sh10,000 and shade Sh6,000, the rest was used for paying casuals to water the plants,” he said.

The germination percentage was 83 per cent meaning out 30,000 seedlings he got 25,000 which he sold at Sh10 each earning Sh250,000 and a profit of Sh190,000.

In the 2018/19 season Choge scaled up his tea production capacity again this time planting 70,000 seedlings. At the moment 58,000 seedlings are ready for transplanting.

According to the 2019 Economic Survey Report, the area under tea has been gradually increasing and stood at 236,200 ha in 2018 from 203,000 ha in 2014.

This led to tea production increased by 12.1 per cent to 493,000 tonnes in 2018. In this, production by small holders increased by 10.7 per cent to 272,500 tonnes while output by estates recorded an increase of 13.8 per cent to 220,500 tonnes in 2018. The average yield of tea from estates increased by 12.6 per cent compared with 6.1 per cent in the average yield of tea from small holders to 2,932.2 kilograms per hectare and 2,030.6 kilograms per hectare, respectively, in 2018. Higher production was attributed to good weather conditions in the first quarter of the year.

Robert Choge can be reached on 0718401663

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