Farmer cooperatives in Busiime and Majanji sub counties in Busia district have constructed food stores courtesy of world vision.
The stores are intended for collective marketing till the right time for selling avails it’s self so as to enable farmers benefit from their sweat.
However the management of the stores, encourages other farmers not interested in collective marketing to just keep their food in the stores and avoid food wasting it while at home.
The first ever food stores in the district have been constructed at Lumuli and Mundidi trading centers.
According to Nicodemus Wandera the chairperson Busiime farmers cooperative the objective of providing the storage services is to eliminate middle men and encourage commercial farming which he noted would eventually turn into value addition.
The construction of stores according to Wandera was co-funded by the cooperative and world vision.
Wandera said, farmers from the neighboring sub counties are free to use them to keep their produce for whatever reasons.
The stores have the capacity to keep one thousand and five hundred kilograms of produce adding that only the willing people will keep their produce after measuring it.
“Farmers are issued with receipts upon bringing their produce indicating whether they just want storage services or want collective marketing” he said.
The community has welcomed the idea saying it is going to save them from selling produce any time they want which had caused food insecurity in the area.
“This provides a good opportunity to mainly mother’s that toil in the gardens and at the end their husbands sell all the produce after harvest and squander the money leaving households without any food,” he said.
Farmers that the Cooperator spoke to said, the prevailing circumstances had taught them a lesson to use food sparingly noting that keeping food in the house can be difficult sometimes as relatives in need come requesting for some.
