Posted on April, 12, 2021 at 11:33 am
At least 20,000 small scale farmers will receive loans by Apollo Agriculture, an agricultural financing company in Trans Nzoia.
Apollo agriculture has partnered with Trans Nzoia county government to identify and offer loans to small farmers, including those with as small as quarter an acre of land.
Speaking to KNA in Kitale Friday, Appolo co-founder Benjamin Njenga said that at least sh. 92 million will be available to farmers for borrowing during this planting season.
He said most of the beneficiaries have between quarter and one acre of land and mostly are left out by many financial institutions who prefer to finance large scale farmers.
He added that the organization has signed an agreement with the Trans Nzoia county government over the same.
He said that the farmers in the rich grain basket of Trans Nzoia will be receiving the loans in form of farm inputs that will include seeds, fertilizer and insurance to help cushion them from bad effects of climate change.
According to Njenga, the organization has already hired 150 youths and 34 Agro- dealers from the 5 sub counties that will assist farmers in the supplies of the farm inputs.
He said that the move will improve production of maize and also enable families achieve food security
Speaking to KNA on phone, Trans Nzoia County Executive Member for Agriculture Mary Nzomo lauded the deal, noting that farmers with smaller acreage have been left out of the financial support.
She noted that other groups that need support are people living with disability and youths who many financial institutions leave out for lack of collateral.
The county executive advised farmers in the region to stop using DAP as her department had raised a red flag on increasing soil acidity caused by the fertilizer.
Source: Kenya News Agency