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Nyandarua County hosted a delegation from the Warehouse Receipt System Council, International Finance Cooperation (IFC), Micro and Small Enterprises Authority (MSEA), International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), and Kenya National Farmers Federation (KENAFF), discussing solutions to agricultural challenges, including scaling up the WRS. The delegation commenced its week-long activities by paying a courtesy call to the Deputy County Commissioner for Nyandarua Central, Mr. Geoffrey Tanui, and the CECM for Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries, Hon. Francis Miring’u. They were briefed about the state of the WRS in the County and the steps necessary to increase uptake.
The week-long training and sensitization program included visiting available storage warehouses for certification under WRS, training various stakeholders including farmers, aggregators, farmer groups, financial institutions, development partners, research and regulatory institutions, and county administrators on postharvest management and the benefits of onboarding into WRS to various stakeholders.
During the sensitization, the team acknowledged and appreciated that Nyandarua County Government had started embracing the WRS to mitigate postharvest losses, provide market linkages, and increase access to affordable financing and farm inputs. This was informed by the commitment by the county government to empower her farmers and collaborate with other development partners to develop warehousing infrastructure i.E ASDSP and IFDC.
The County has registered around 22 Cooperative societies including Pesi, Kagunda, Ol’ Kalou, Lanyana, Mwendi Kurima, Kipipiri and Abadare cooperatives among others under potato value chain with several cold storage facilities in the County including Ol’ Kalou cold storage facility, Pesi Cooperative, Lanyana cooperative and various ambient facilities. Potato production capacity is about 300m- 500m MT with an average post-harvest loss of 30-50% because potatoes produced are majorly sold at the local market. It requires a multifaceted approach to reduce this loss for farmers to access better markets thereby increasing their incomes.