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Mango and dairy farmers in Murang’a will be smiling all the way to the bank after the County government launched minimum guarantee return subsidy for their produce.

This is part of the agricultural subsidy programme approved by the County Assembly late last year allowing the executive to set aside Sh200 million.

Speaking during the launch of the programme, Governor Irungu Kang’ata said the county will be giving farmers extra money on top of what they get from the dealers.

He said this is meant to act as an incentive to motivate the farmers put more effort and increase the production and eventually they will get more returns.

Received pay

Kang’ata said in the dairy sector 19,254 farmers have been enlisted in the program and they will be getting Sh3.50 extra for every litre of milk supplied to the processor.

The governor said over 16,000 farmers have already received their pay through the co-operative but there are some whose details had errors that are yet to be rectified.

“We have engaged 13 co-operatives and two private milk processors because we want a proper channel of the produce doing away with the brokers” Kang’ata said. Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria who graced the occasion lauded the effort by the County government and urged others to follow suit.

He said subsidies in the agricultural sector will help the farmers put more effort and increase production which will ensure there is ample supply of food.

Pockets of farmers

His National Treasury counterpart Njuguna Ndung’u said reviving the sector will help put money in the pockets of farmers and gradually create economic transformation.