Kenya is planning to develop an app based commodity exchange with the aim of boosting farmers’ revenues. The CEO of Kenya Commodity Exchange, Jared Nyaundi, said that the online marketplace is expected to be ready by February 2021.
“The mobile-based agriculture exchange will introduce structured trading to ensure agricultural producers are not exploited by intermediaries,” Nyaundi said during the launch of the warehouse receipt system.
Nyaundi said that the commodity exchange platform will be linked with the warehouse receipt system, which will be instrumental in helping farmers store their produce in modern stores.
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“Government has already approved warehouses across the country that can store harvests at conditions that will preserve their quality,” he added.
In addition, receipts from the warehouse will also be used as collateral to secure credit as agricultural producers await to sell their harvests.
Nyaundi, who is also the acting director of internal trade in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and industrialization said that the app will reduce post harvest losses as farmers could easily get in touch with their buyers in real time. This will also help them avoid selling their products under distress.
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He noted that farmers are often forced to sell off their produce at a loss because of the lack of accurate information regarding the market demands.
Six products including maize, beans and groundnuts are slotted to start trading at the commodity exchange.
“We also plan to introduce trading of minerals at the exchange,” Nyaundi said.
Nyaundi said that the National Treasury will inject Sh2 billion to fund the operations of the commodity exchange.
“Thereafter the exchange will be sold to private sector players who will operate the commodity exchange,” he added.
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