Who are NOREB and Why They Matter

Dr. Godfrey Chesang is the Chief Executive Officer of North Rift Economic Bloc, abbreviated as NOREB.

We had an exclusive interview with him and this is what he had to say:

“NOREB is an economic cooperation of 8 counties in the North Rift Region – Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet, Nandi, Samburu, Trans Nzoia, Turkana, West Pokot and Uasin Gishu – whose primary mandate is the economic integration of the region.

Economic integration enables our counties to collaborate on joint projects, creates a bigger market, improves the economies of scale and helps counties exploit synergies. Our end game is to grow the economy, expand opportunity, create jobs and transform lives in the region.

NOREB welcomes Ksh 2 billion to boost potato farming. Elgeyo Marakwet County in partnership with UK government and Select Fresh Produce, a local entrepreneur will establish a potato factory with the capacity to process 60 000 tonnes of potatoes into chips for the local and export market.

The UK Government is providing Kshs. 103 million seed capital through the UK’s Sustainable Urban Economic Development (SUED).

The eventual investment target is Kshs. 2.4 million. The project will create 100 direct jobs and help build out the potato value chain, helping farmers draw better returns and gain better access to international markets. This will only be the third such factory in Africa.

NOREB underscores the importance of the potato value chain and cold storage to avoid post harvest losses Post harvest loses are a major issue in potato production here.

Farmers either lose their harvest or are forced to sell at throwaway prices, especially when there is flux in the market, which is almost always around harvest time.

Cold storage facilities will partially address the problem. The other is access to markets beyond traditional markets. A component of this project will be investment in seeds and production methods that ensures international market quality and specifications in the potatoes produced here.

These are some of NOREB interventions: they include Conceptualising, facilitating and actualizing regional projects that have a regional impact sits at the core of NOREB’s mandate.

While this project is located in Elgeyo Marakwet, and is bound to create jobs and transform lives in the county, its benefits are far reaching and will impact the region as a whole.

We look forward to, and are indeed working on more such projects with regional impact in different counties in our region.”

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