National Cereals and Produce Board has penned a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Safaricom’s DigiFarm Kenya Ltd to facilitate small-scale farmers to access post-harvest services.
NCPB says it will offer post-harvest management services to farmers on the platform, while DigiFarm will connect NCPB to small-scale farmers, who will access its services at good rates.
“This MoU is aligned to the agriculture hub model that NCPB is required to establish under the Reforms. The hub shall provide a one-stop shop for farmers to obtain farm inputs, farm machinery services, information on crop and animal husbandry and quality management services among other services,” said NCPB Managing Director Joseph Kimote.
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He said the MoU will enable small-scale farmers improve crop productivity and their incomes and support achievement of the Food and Nutrition Security Pillar of the Big Four Agenda.
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The areas of cooperation in the provision of services include product aggregation and warehousing, quality management, inventory management and control, market facilitation, extension support and farm inputs distribution.
“Through the Digifarm platform we want to empower smallholder farmers across the country by giving them direct access to low-cost quality seeds and fertiliser, credit providers, mechanisation services and bulk purchasers of their produce. Our partnership with NCPB will provide farmers with post-harvest management services as well as access to market which will enable them sell quality produce at competitive prices”, said Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa.
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DigiFarm is an integrated mobile platform developed by Safaricom which offers farmers a convenient one-stop access to quality farm inputs, input loans, advisory services, market linkages, and crop insurance.
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The platform, which has registered 1.3 million farmers, seeks to empower the smallholder farmer financially by addressing the above mentioned issues facing them across the country.