Market linkage brings new hope to groundnuts farmers

Investors in the food processing sector have called on groundnuts farmers to consider producing the crop commercially as in order to meet the rising demand and earn more from this rich, yet neglected crop.

This comes at a time when farmers in Siaya and Busia counties have been linked with a private company which has expressed interest in buying groundnuts in bulk.

Although the crop is common in almost all farms within this region, especially owing to suitable weather, many farmers do it for subsistence rather than for agribusiness purposes.

“We have a demand for 200 metric tonnes of groundnuts annually, yet we are only able to get half of this from local farmers,” said Mr Michael Njuguna, an officer from Delish and Nutri, a company which specialises on processing nutritious food.

Ensure proper handling

Mr Njuguna called on farmers to produce quality yield by ensuring proper handling, both on their farms as well as after harvesting, in order to keep infections such as aflatoxins at bay.

Jointly, farmers are able to enjoy economies of scale and meet high demand by processors who prefer buying produce in bulk.

“We have been facing challenges such as exploitation by brokers who take advantage when the supply is high and buy groundnuts at a throw-away price,” said Mr Michael