Farmers' cooperatives in Kenya

Pragya UK

Kakamega county, western Kenya, has one of Kenya’s highest populations of rural poor, and lowest per-capita Gross-County-Products. Pragya currently supports 238 impoverished smallholding farmers in the region, with the knowledge, nurseries, and start-up inputs to commence cultivation of high-value medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs). The project has begun to boost the income of participating farmers. We need support for the following: (a) The work related to forming cooperatives and the establishment of ethical trading linkages needs to be completed in the next two years. (b) To bolster farmers’ bargaining capacity, we propose to increase nurseries in Katakala, North Shiru, Lugusi (Nandi), and Musunji (Vihiga), add 150 newly identified farmers from these areas and intensify trainings on cooperative management.