Bungoma County Government has been urged to set aside money in its budget allocation that will be used to purchase subsidized fertilizer for coffee farmers as a way of boosting coffee farming in the region.
This was stated by the chairman for co-operatives in Bungoma County Josephat Makhanu who said that there is a need for the county to give a boost to coffee farmers through giving subsidized fertilizer the way it is done to maize farmers, a way he said will improve revenue collection in the county.
“The county government should put up ways to provide subsidized fertilizer to coffee farmers as it is always done to maize farmers, the county should also set aside money to buy fertilizer which will increase yields thus improve living standards, therefore, increase in revenue for the county at large,” stated Makhanu.
However, Makhanu also raised an alarm over poor roads in that region which he cited are a challenge to farmers when they are transporting their yields to the factories, and he urged the county government to deal with the matter.
“My plea to the county government through his excellency the Governor and the CEC in charge of roads is to help us reconstruct roads that connect the factory and the coffee farms for this will ease the farmers’ access to the factory,” he said.
He lauded farmers for taking their coffee straight to the factory, and not selling it illegally, adding that this has prevented theft which was so prevalent in the past. “Such a move is clearly a sign of good farming because when the produce is taken to the factory it is when one can realize his or her output well,” he asserted.