The National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) plans to change its name to the Grain Corporation of Kenya (GCK) in a restructuring process aimed at boosting profitability, chairman Geoffrey King’ang’i has said.
The chairman also assured farmers and stakeholders that the board’s properties that have been grabbed will be repossessed to enhance the board’s capability for service delivery.
“If the NCPB is restructured, all properties will be retained and no corrupt deal will be allowed. Farmers and stakeholders around the country will be consulted to give their views on whether to retain or change the current name,” King’ang’i said.
King’ang’i on Monday said numerous properties from the NCPB have been grabbed and professionals have been hired to carry out an audit on the property in wrong hands.
Speaking during a stakeholders’ workshop in Nakuru to deliberate on restructuring the parastatal, King’ang’i revealed that buying centres will be reintroduced to allow farmers easy access to the cereals depots without incurring huge transport costs.
NCPB managing director Newton Terer pointed out that the restructuring will help improve services by incorporating technology. He added that the welfare of staff and workers will also be improved.
The MD added that there is a proposal to introduce a grain sector regulator to supervise and license market players in the grain industry. “The regulator will be important in regulating market pricing. Farmers have always been exploited while selling their produce to millers and NCPB, an issue which needs to be addressed,” he added. The farmers at the workshop also called upon the NCPB to educate and sensitise the public in Nakuru to stop subdividing their lands into small pieces, which are unsuitable for cereal production.