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Unlocking capital for Kenyan farmers
A beans farmer in Sobea, Nakuru County. Expanding access to farm credit could help boost food production, strengthen rural incomes and reduce Kenya's dependence on food imports.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
Somewhere in Meru County, a smallholder farmer named Murimi is making a calculation he knows all too well. The long rains are here. His soil is prepped and ready. Yet, the certified seeds and fertiliser he needs might as well be locked behind a vault.
It isn't a lack of drive or land holding him back; it is simply that he cannot access affordable credit. Left with no real choice, Murimi will either turn to informal shylocks charging extortionate rates, or he won’t plant a single seed this season.
