The National Cereals and Produce Board has inked a deal with Safaricom’s DigiFarm Kenya Ltd.
The partnership is expected to facilitate small-scale farmers in Kenya to access post-harvest management services through the digital platform.
The Managing Director of NCPB, Mr Joseph Kimote said that the Memorandum of Understanding (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 Kimote.
The Board shall offer post-harvest management services to farmers present on the platform, while DigiFarm will connect NCPB to small-scale farmers, who will, in turn, access NCPB services at prevailing rates.
The areas of cooperation in the provision of services included product aggregation and warehousing, quality management.
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Others are 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 the market which will enable them to sell quality produce at competitive prices”, Said Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom.
The signing of the agreement between the two is set to upsurge crop productivity, leading to better incomes which will support the country in achieving the goals of the Food and Nutrition Security Pillar of the Big Four Agenda
DigiFarm is an integrated mobile platform developed by Safaricom that offers farmers a convenient one-stop access to quality farm inputs, input loans, advisory services, market linkages, and crop insurance.
