Munira Mandano

CREDIT: Coconut farmers in the coastal region are set to benefit from low cost credit after the launch of Sh100 million Coconut revolving fund.

Agriculture Cabinet secretary Peter Munya said the government is considering alternative instruments to be used as collateral to access the credits as opposed to using formal ones such as title deeds. 

“We know that most locals have no title deeds and therefore accessing the revolving fund will be difficult for them. Therefore we are considering  alternatives,” he added during the launch of the new facility in Matuga, Kwale County.

Munya said warehouses used to store the coconuts and women groups can be used as security or guarantors, adding: “Those warehouses can be used to store the coconut.”

He said the revolving fund will revitalise the coconut sub-sector and create more job opportunities as stakeholders improve their value addition mechanisms. 

“This revolving fund will revitalise the coconut sub-sector and give job opportunity to our people,” Munya said.

Kwale County Governor Salim Mvurya said the fund will place coconut among the valuable crops like tea, coffee, sugar and miraa. 

The fund will be administered by the Commodities Fund (ComFund), a government agency established by Crops Act 2013, under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Co-operatives.