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By Omondi Rodgers
Busia: Farmers in Busia County have been urged to embrace Farmer Service Centres (FSCs) to improve access to agricultural services, promote climate-smart farming and increase food production.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum and graduation ceremony for the centres at Busia Agricultural Training Centre, Cereal Growers Association (CGA) Regional Agribusiness Coordinator Esther Magambo said the centres were playing a key role in boosting agricultural productivity.
“We have graduated 124 Farmer Service Centres working in Busia through a project of Farm to Market Alliance. This is a stepping stone for them to continue serving our farmers. We started with 1,500 and, as of today, we have impacted more than 26,000 farmers in this county,” she said.
Magambo urged public and private sector players to support the establishment of more centres to bring services closer to farmers and improve their access to markets, finance and modern farming technologies.
“Our FSCs have been trained on good agricultural practices, independent market access, climate-smart agriculture technologies, partner management and linking to various partners in their areas, as well as finance,” she said.
She said the adoption of climate-smart practices, including minimum tillage, crop rotation and residue retention, had contributed to a 30 per cent increase in productivity in the county.
“The main value chains have been maize and soybeans, and both have experienced an increase in production,” Magambo said.
Farm to Market Alliance (FtMA) Project Manager Colvince Onyuka called on the county government to integrate the centres into its agricultural extension model to strengthen service delivery at the ward level.
“We have created business people who are transacting with farmers. We have promoted a lot of technology use, including sustainable farming, which we urge the county to support through access to equipment and subsidising some services,” he said.
Onyuka said the centres were providing essential services in rural areas while promoting entrepreneurship, in line with the government’s agenda of working with farmers at the ward level.
“They will be able to train farmers on climate-smart agriculture and help them improve their access to markets,” he said.
Josephine Okododi, an FSC operator in Busia, said the project had transformed her business by connecting her to buyers and enabling her to expand her soybean aggregation.
“This project has been a game changer. They connected me to off-takers as an aggregator, and I used the commissions to buy land and build a shop and store for produce. I started with 10 farmers, but today I have 1,300 bringing their soybeans for aggregation,” she said.
Farmer Gabriel Juma said the training had improved his farming skills, raised his production and taught him to use agricultural chemicals responsibly.
“I have learned proper ways of farming, which have resulted in increased food production. I have also learned about using the right chemicals without affecting the soil. The introduction of climate-resistant seeds has also helped us produce more,” he said.
