Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui has urged farmers in various sectors to form cooperatives, in a bid to better tap market opportunities and attract government supported investments.
Speaking at Kamara when he launched water projects worth Sh27 million, Kinyanjui said that the government has avenues to assist farmers, but lack of proper structures has delayed such processes.
“Most farmers in crop and dairy sectors are in production as individuals which makes it hard for them to tap maximum market potential. The government best assists farmers in organized groups,” said Kinyanjui.
The governor noted that the county government is expecting to receive milk cooling plants pledged by the national government.
Kinyanjui, however, said that the plants will only benefit farmers if they are in organised groups, adding that the plants cannot be given to individuals even if they have high production.
“The plants cannot be given out to private dairy farmers. As such, farmers have to come up with cooperatives that will maximally utilize the capacity of the cooling plants,” said Kinyanjui.
He noted that formation of cooperatives will go a long way in enabling farmers negotiate for better prices for their supplies, and also pave way for the establishment of factories.
Groups of dairy farmers in Olenguruone and Subukia have already formed strong cooperatives which are in the process of completing packaging and storage plants.
Kinyanjui said that the county government will in the next financial year factor in grants to the cooperatives, to enable them fast track the operationalisation of the processing plants.
“Suka cooperative in Subukia are in the process of setting up a packaging plant. Olenguruone dairy cooperative is setting up a storage plant. These shall be among the beneficiaries of the grants,” he said.