Bidco Africa, a multinational consumer goods company is looking for 25,000 farmers to grow sunflower and soya beans to curb the shortage of the two commodities used in making oil.

The company currently has 25,000 contracted farmers who supply 5,000 metric tonnes of sunflower and soya beans against a demand of 10,000 metric tonnes annually.

“In this, the company will contract farmers, offer technical support and read market once the harvest is ready,” said John Kariuki, the company’s head of agribusiness.

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The two crops can be planted for two seasons within a span of one year unlike maize which is grown for one season.

Bidco Africa says that the local partnership with farmers is about empowering smallholder farmers who form about 70 per cent of the population by providing them access to reliable markets so as to transform their lives.

This comes at a time when farmers in the North Rift region are abandoning maize farming for horticulture which is ranked as the fastest growing sub sector in the agricultural industry in Kenya.

Kenya’s horticulture earnings earned the country Sh56.23bn in the first four months of 2018 up from Sh40.57bn in a similar period last year according to the latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

Bidco Africa can be reached on +254 722 278 777 or +254 733 655 777.