Kenya's giant retailer Nakumatt is among several companies that have signed a pact to buy more local goods from small scale farmers to improve market access for SMEs in agribusiness.
Nakumatt on Friday signed a deal with the Comesa Business Council to source more goods from certified suppliers in the region under the Local Sourcing for Partnerships project by the regional lobby group.
Following the deal, small scale producers and suppliers in agri-business are set to benefit from a wider market access.
Nakumatt Supermarkets regional operations and strategy director Thiagarajan Ramamurthy said the partnership will guarantee consistent supply of goods
from various sources in the region.
He
called on the region agro-food suppliers to diversify their sources to enable them meet customers’ expectations.
“The
business environment is changing very fast
and
thus requires the suppliers to be dynamic in order to cope with the new trends,”
said
Thiagarajan.
Several other firms also signed the deal in a bid to diversify their supply sources.The Comesa Business Council will consequently train interested agro-food suppliers on global standards and connecting them with the firms which operate in six Comesa states -Zambia, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya,
Ethiopia and Malawi.
“Many
private companies are now seeking to diversify their sources of supply and are
increasingly approaching small-scale farmers. Sourcing from small-rather than large-scale
farmers offers several advantages, including access to land and the diversity
of the crops they produce," said Comesa Business Council's CEO
Sandra Uwera.
She was speaking in Nairobi on Friday during the council's Local Sourcing for Partnerships training workshop.
"Sustainable local sourcing offers a significant opportunity
to improve the livelihoods of small scale producers in Africa. It is a business
model that forces all actors on the supply chain to collaborate and create
attractive win-win situation situations for all,” she said.
CBC will spend Sh95 million to train the suppliers as part of the project which is supported by the Investment Climate Facility for Africa as well as USAID in collaboration with the public and private sector bodies.
Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives Principal secretary Chris Kiptoo said limited information on credible local suppliers had hampered such partnerships which are crucial for economic growth.
