Farmers union starts Internet booth

There are exciting plans for the KENFAP office in Nyeri. The idea is to have an internet café in the KENFAP office for farmers to use. The room is now being prepared for more computers to be installed but already the KENFAP office is offering training for computers. This Story based on interviews with Grace Ngambi, Mary Muthami; David Kammo and Lucy Mwangi by Anne Dennig in August 2006 KENFAP’s office in Nyeri

Lucy Mwangi. is giving training to farmers in the use of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and of the Internet for Email and to access useful websites. The courses last a week and runs for a couple of hours each day. At the end of the course the participants receive a certificate. The office charges members 500 Ksh and non-members 600 Ksh for the course. The Kaholifa Youth Group has already had some training on using Email and now has its own Email address!

Running an Info Office as a Business.
The KENFAP office is run as a business; charging for photocopying, phone charging, typing, library and Internet services. KENFAP members can borrow books from the library without payment and are charged at a lower rate than non-members for photocopying etc. Now KENFAP head office in is assisting us with the purchase of computers and pays the salaries of the office staff. But KENFAP wants all their offices to be autonomous; they want regional offices to be able to pay for their own expenses.
The income streams we are developing are:
• Exhibitions for farmers to meet buyers
• Extension and specialist consultation
• Internet and office services
• Training courses

Improving Marketing
After the LLL workshop in Kakamega in August 2006, we have plans to continue to improve marketing. The Nyeri Branch intends to organize marketing groups for particular crops and to act as a broker to negotiate a price for a farmer group. Although KENFAP has been working towards this in the last two years we have not yet broken through. There is demand for Sunflowers and farmers want KENFAP to sign a contract for the crop production with one of the Sunflower companies (BIDCO or Elianto) so that the farmers have security (the contract must include all the details of who pays for training etc). If this is done there will then be a need for training and the provision of seeds and fertilizers. At the moment we offer marketing courses, these are run by the head office and organized for producers and buyers to meet and discuss. We would like the want the sunflower companies to pay the farmers’ groups directly (one account per farmers alliance) and then pay KENFAP commission as brokers. KENFAP must educate the farmers and play a role of the broker; the advantage is that the farmers already trust KENFAP. What is imperative is the proper analysis of gross margin; to find the real cost of production. Through exhibitions KENFAP have shown that we can coordinate the farmers- the companies should pay for organizing these exhibitions.