A Virtual Trading Floor for linking poor farmers to markets

My parents grew crops such as maize, millet, sorghum, sweet potatoes, cassava, bananas, vegetables, especially Indian Vegetables such as Egg Plants, Brinjals and Chili. They also raised livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats, chicken. All the crops and livestock were produced on a small-scale, a few acres or portions of an acre for crops, and a few numbers of the livestock, in a typical smallholder farming system fashion. My father used to sell Indian vegetables to Indian shopkeepers in Bungoma town, a distance of about 12 km from our village. My parents also sold farm produce to traders who came from distant towns to buy in the local market called Nasianda, only three km from our village.

As a young boy growing up in the village, I used to help my parents with farm work, like other siblings and other children in the village. We used to go to school during the week days, and help with farm work during the weekends.

3. My encounter with the exploitation of poor farmers in the market place

During the time when I accompanied my father to sell farm produce to Indian shopkeepers in Bungoma town or traders in the local Nasianda market, I observed that the prices that were paid to my farther for produce were entirely set by the shopkeepers and the traders. They would say to my father: Mr. Wekulo, today we are paying this much shillings for this or that produce. My farther was merely a price taker, with no bargaining power for better prices. I realized that other farmers like my father suffered the same fate: they had no bargaining power for better prices in the market place. The Shopkeepers and traders seemed to have all the money and power to set whatever prices they deemed necessary, which were always viewed as low and exploitative by farmers. Farmers who had large surpluses for sale would take their produce to the government marketing boards, but often waited for many months, even 6 or 8 months, to get payment at prices also set by the government.

After completing my secondary school education in 1967, I made up my mind to take a training course in agriculture. I believed that as an agricultural officer, I would help advice poor farmers on better farming methods so that they could increase their yields and output and earn enough money so as to be able to afford school fees for their children, including the girls! So I applied and joined Egerton (Agricultural) College, Njoro, in 1968, where I graduated with a Distinction Diploma in Farm Management in 1970. I joined the Ministry of Agriculture in Nairobi where I delightfully worked as an Extension Officer, advising farmers and livestock keepers on better crop and livestock husbandry. My brother followed my footsteps, joining Ahiti Institute of Agriculture in Nairobi, where he graduated with a Certificate in Agric

Commodity buyers in Kenya can now send payments through mobile telephony, using Safaricom mobile phone money transfer program branded M-Pesa. KACE MRCs are planning to serve as M-Pesa agents, where sellers can collect money from buyers at a small commission. Negotiations are still going on between KACE and the Safaricon Limited.

Commodity sellers including smallholder farmers, can receive their payments through the M-Pesa services, without the need for having a bank account. Most smallholder farmers in Kenya don’t usually have a bank account. KACE MRCs are planning to serve as M-Pesa agents, where sellers can collect money from buyers at a small commission. Negotiations are still going on between KACE and the Safaricon Limited.