Alleviate the plight of farmers in kenya

Context.

Allow us to take you back to the commencement of this transaction and the goal of the parties at the point of discussion, negotiations and ultimately the disbursements of the funds . The firm received a grant of KSh51.2 million from the European Union (EU) though Self Help Africa to facilitate training and ease access of mechanization to farmers in Narok County .The intention from our end was to allow farmers to gain access to mechanization services amongst others and subsequently impact on their growth. We purchased various tractors , implements and other farming equipment which we dedicated to various projects . We undertook mechanization projects in Hola, Bura, Mau Narok and other areas where there was limited access to such services.

In so doing we were faced with various challenges. Of significance is that our focus group was not persons of means and therefore heavily reliant on their farm produce. Noting the volatile nature of farming we experience acute non payment for the services rendered which not only affected our ability to discharged our payment obligations but also sustainability of the projects. We further experienced significant downtime with the assets procured with delays on with procuring of spare parts for a brand that was fairly new in the market and the high costs of the same and further noting remoteness of the areas within which the projects were operating.

Notwithstanding the challenges and various failed attempts at keeping afloat we did not abandon the projects and have invested finances from other transactions and utilized additional assets towards continuing to create impact within the Agricultural Sector. Over the last three years we have expanded the projects to a wider geographical reach through our subsidiary Tinga Rental Services Limited.We have been able to reach over 6000 farmers within Kisima, Kilgoris, Kisumu , Mau Narokwhere we continue to offer mechanization services, access to agrovet services and capacity building through our various partners.We are currently undertaking a project for construction of a Cold Storage Warehouse in Narok County. We anticipate that this facility will cater to over 10,000 farmers and address a prevalent transport and storage challenge faced within the Agricultural Industry.

While we do not wish to burden you with the above details ;we find there is need to demonstrate that the challenges with non-payment of the awarded amount (Kshs, 160,319,136.00)is not a position taken out of unwillingness but rather lack of capacity on our part, and to also reiterate that we have so far made a deposit of 20,000,000 Kenya shillings and remained true to the initial objective of impacting farmers which we continue to do to date.

( A word from the Founder ; Paul.Njeru)

About 6 years ago, I left the banking world to run a leasing organisation Vehicle and Equipment Leasing Limited (VAELL). I ventured into farming as a personal Investment. It was the first time we had to hire a tractor in the field. I was shocked at the fact that I was paying an equivalent of 35 US dollars to plough 1 acre which translated to 350 dollars per day for the 10 acres the tractor would plough. What we paid in 2 days was equivalent to what a corporate Multinational would lease a brand new tractor from the leasing firm I run. What I was paying is what every small farmer who doesn’t own a tractor has to pay sometimes even more when the rains have come/and demands have peaked.

It took me a while to convince the family to deploy some ex-lease tractors towards farmers in Narok. My dream was to be able to get sufficient volume from aggregated farmers so that we could bring the prices down nearer to where the corporate organisation would get their tractors. I am happy to say that at present, using the tractors we deployed and obtained from this financial organisation that also partnered with us, we are now ploughing at 18 USDan acre for the more soil conservatory chisel plough to the extent we do not have enough chisel ploughs, tractors and equipment.

However, the constant pressure on financing to repay the debt has meant that over half the equipment and tractors are grounded 50% of the time. We are working at uberising the program and we have 100 other farmers who volunteered their tractors into the project. tingA was the first app on tractors on google play store.

Sadly, it is also a programme that will likely collapse the business because while we have reached to a place where the lessons learnt are being deployed at the same time we lack the funds to progress them until we are able to repay this debt. I want to save the programme and change the community that the programme is in. There are numerous examples of lives it has changed and where production has even tripled because of the use of the right equipment or equipment in general.

Please join me to sustain this project.

Comments and Backers

“Since we partnered with TingA, Quipbank’s limited project, in 2017, land preparation has become cheaper and easier TingA provide farm support and advisory, demonstrating to farmers correct depth that one can’t achieve with manual ploughing. This complements the input package that includes crop protection and nutrition programs, certified seed and good agricultural practices to translate to better yields,” said Diana Gitonga,- Bayer’s Smallholder Farming Manager.

“Initially, I used to plant my potatoes using the ordinary methods. I wanted to give up because I was getting nothing but losses from my farm. When TingA visited my farm and they convinced me to use their services I gave it a try and I can see the fruits. I recently harvested my potatoes using their tractor and I was able to get 10 tonnes per acre. With such kind of harvests I felt motivated and even inspired to plant more. With these profits I am able to school my children and invest in other ventures. When farming is done right it pays.” Fridah Wachira

TingA through their field officers has actually been guiding me through the entire potato production cycle by ensuring that I abide by planting, weeding, spraying, fertilizer application, earthling up and all related activities including harvesting and selling the harvests. They even visit my farm to inspect and approve the seeds before I plant. They have really helped me. This season I hope to produce 70-100 bags per acre.” – Anne Kahura,Farmer- Narok County.

“Before the coronavirus pandemic was reported in Kenya, I used to take my potatoes from here to Nairobi using public means which was at least affordable then but as the government imposed partial lockdowns, only designated trucks were allowed to go to Nairobi, hiking the transport costs. Lucky enough, TingA firm came to our rescue. I no longer worry how to take my produce to the market since I transferred that burden to the company at very affordable rates.” John Ole Sadera, Farmer –Olokirikirai

“In the past, we were using traditional methods to farm without knowing that we could get more with use of machinery. Most of us think that machinery are very expensive but in real sense, they are cheaper at long run as opposed to the use of manual labour. Farm machinery has not only brought efficiency but also reduced farmers loss from theft and saves time. Should you not cover your potatoes properly you will find thieves stealing them”.- Mr. Zakaria Merkum, Narok

“When schools open, I don’t think school fees will be a problem like before. Since we started using machinery all the way from land preparation, planting, spraying and harvesting, we are able to harvest more than what we used to produce initially. The equipment has helped us to earn more profits that we plough in other projects,” Naomi Koika- Farmer