For long, around 10,000 small holder farmers of Teso South had to commute 20km to Busia town or 100km to Bungoma to get farm inputs during planting season. Sourcing of farm inputs was done by men as women were left preparing lands for planting while waiting for their husbands to bring them. In the local town of Asinge, there was no reliable agro-dealer prior to 2009.
On many instances, men would return without inputs like seeds having squandered money on acts of debauchery and drinking in Busia or Bungoma joints. For women in Teso South area to salvage their planting seasons, they would reuse maize seeds harvested in previous seasons. The recycling of maize seed would lower yields a season by as much as 25 percent compared to previous season.
Yet, this is a region with chronic food insecurity and farmlands are so depleted off nutrients by excessive farming that, at most a hectare yields 0.5 tonnes of maize. Failure to deliver inputs by the men was resulted in late planting of maize which resulted in stunted crops. There were also farmers who couldn’t afford to commute to Busia and still had to recycle their seeds too.
These issues inspired one fairly outstanding farmer there in November 2009 to start an agro-dealership to cater to rural farmers in the region. Crescent Joya had been a SHF who attributed his success to the various training on agriculture he attended run by the Ministry of Agriculture or other agricultural organizations in the region. “What I learned I applied on my farm,” said a beaming Joya.
He planted cassava, finger millet and the staple maize all which made him enough money to acquire a space for an agro-dealership in Asinge town and stock it. Through funding provided by Alliance for Green Revolution Africa (AGRA) to Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs’ (CNFA’s) local affiliate Agricultural Market Development Trust (AGMARK) his shop was renovated and he stocked it with most inputs needed by the SHFs in this region.
To ensure he was adept at managing his business professionally AGMARK trained him, and from the less than 100 farmers he had monthly, today on a good month he serves 5000 farmers. The training also extended to crop husbandry, safe product usage, handling and knowledge. This enables Joya to advice his farmers clientele on the right farming practices to apply to achieve optimal on farm results. On successful completion of the training Joya became a (CNFA) certified agro-dealer. “I’m very proud of that,” he said joyously.
Though he dedicates much time running his Exodus Farm Inputs, Joya admits having been an active farmer before was helpful when starting out as an agro-dealer. “The two are intertwined,” he said as most knowledge he has on managing pests with pesticides he learned from demonstrations run on his farm. “I would learn along with other farmers on my farm,” said Joya. Some of them would involve fertilizer application and in which amounts to apply which is a key issue in Teso South farmlands.
His proactive approach to agriculture, made Joya to be chosen to be supported by AGMARK, CNFA and AGRA by giving him a grant to expand his agro-dealership. He also gets invites to trainings by World Food Program on their seminars.
As low incomes plague farmers in the region to encourage more farmers to increase fertilizer usage, he repacks it in small packs that can cost half a dollar. This ensures farmers who can’t afford a 50kg bag get small repacked units as little as 5kg for less money. “These have been popular on farmers in horticulture,” he said. Packing in miniature packs has also impacted on his fertilizer stock as he confesses it moves faster than before.
Still he has a model where maize farmers in Teso South acquire 2, 50kgs bags of DAP and CAN fertilizers on credit through Equity Bank. Here, farmer groups with 10 to 25 members get input loans from Equity Bank which pays Joya the fertilizer. Then after harvests farmers pay back the bank for the amount of fertilizer they got from Joya’s shop. “I don’t run after them to pay,” he added laughing.
Rural Energy and Food Security Organization based in Western Kenya also works with Joya as their volunteer agent when bulking soya seeds. On his agro-dealership he keeps Soya seeds which he redistributes for free to new potential soya farmers. This Soya seed program involves farmers getting seed for free and after planting and harvest they “repay” the original seed in double.
One farmer Elijah Orute counts Joya’s agro-dealership at Asinge town as a blessing. Before, to get farm inputs, he had to travel to Busia or Bungoma towns. On a motorcycle to Busia would cost him around $4 to and fro and to Bungoma town $7 as well. Today he is able to save on transport costs by getting his inputs from Exodus Farm Inputs. “It has really saved us on costs,” said Orute.
Orute also consults Joya on animal husbandry issues or advice on how to tend his crop when hit by diseases and which chemicals to use. Orute says the advice comes in handy for farmers doing horticultural farming which has lately become vibrant in Asinge. Joya’s agro-dealership is also serving Ugandan farmers across the border that come to get quality inputs from there. This is also spurring cross border trading among Kenyan and Ugandan farmers.
By strengthening the capacity of village level agro-dealers around Africa, AGRA hopes to strengthen certified seed delivery and increase fertilizer usage. On average around sub Saharan Africa, fertilizer application per hectare is estimated at 8kg per hectare. It’s aimed if increased to 50kg per hectare on farm production will rise by more than double if coupled with good agronomical practices.
This initiative to support village level agro-dealers set to end this coming year is aimed at reaching 15,000 farmers in the Western Kenya region. The lack of enough food for these SHFs is gradually reducing most who couldn’t afford 3 square meals daily are getting enough food gradually.