Narok: Wheat farmers in Narok County are seeking better market prices following this year’s bumper harvest occasioned by the favourable weather condition. Led by their Chairman, Stanley Koonyo, the farmers said over 10 million, 90-kilogram bags, were in stores since the harvesting season began in August 2024, and no miller has shown interest in purchasing the produce.
According to Kenya News Agency, Koonyo noted that despite the farmers’ efforts to purchase farm inputs such as fertiliser and chemicals to ensure a good harvest and improve food security for the country, their efforts were in vain as their produce remains unsold. He observed that the wheat produced in Narok County is only five per cent of the wheat consumed in the country, wondering what would happen if they increased the production to 10 per cent as per their ambitions.
‘The government has been urging us to increase production, and that is why we purchased the fertiliser at a subsidised price. But what worries us most is that there is no market for our produce,’ he said. He called on the Department of Agriculture to intervene and give solutions to the problem they were facing, as most farmers have huge loans in financial institutions.
Cereal Growers Association (CGA), Narok Branch Treasurer, Nicholas Mwangi, wondered why the situation is different this year yet in previous years, their wheat was easily sold out to millers at a huge profit. ‘We have been running very smoothly, but of late, we have had a big problem. No miller is interested in our wheat. We have followed up with the relevant authorities, but our efforts have not borne any fruit,’ he reiterated.
Matiko Ole Sadera, a large-scale wheat farmer, reiterated the challenges the farmers have been facing due to unsold wheat, saying their warehouses were completely full and cannot hold any more wheat during the next harvest. He called on the Department of Agriculture to intervene and offer a solution to the farmers who are staring at huge losses if their produce is not sold out.
‘I had personally purchased 350 bags of fertiliser using a loan from the bank. I am now very disturbed because I have nowhere to sell the wheat. We don’t know whether to plant wheat again because this is the planting season, and yet we have not sold the last season’s harvest,’ he said.
Narok County is known for wheat farming, where farmers grow wheat on large scales. One acre of wheat can produce up to 20 bags (90 kilograms each), where a bag is sold between Sh4,000 and Sh5,000. The wheat is mainly produced in Mau regions where the climate is favourable for the crop.