The National Cereals and Produce Board has said it is helping farmers to comply with all measures to control the spread of the coronavirus.
North Rift region manager Gilbert Rotich said they have been sending messages to farmers through mobile phones and social media.
Rotich said they advised farmers to ensure they comply with directives like regular handwashing, social distancing and use of face masks even on the farms
He said they are also enforcing the measures internally at all NCPB depots.
The outbreak has however cut off much of the operations at the NCPB, Rotich said.
“At the depots like here in Eldoret we are only serving five farmers at any one moment and we have advised them to call before they come so that we don’t have crowding of any kind,” Rotich said.
Rotich said the board has been selling fertiliser, seeds and other farm inputs and food stocks but operations have scaled down.
He said the board’s depots have been supplied with adequate water and sanitiser in all offices.
Governor Jackson Mandago said the farmers must also ensure regular handwashing and social distancing by the workers on the farms.
Mandago said that the transportation of fertiliser should be classified as an essential service during curfew hours.
“We have had delays in supplying fertiliser at this time when our farmers are planting,” Mandago said.
He said lorries ferrying fertiliser were not allowed to travel at night due to the curfew measures.
Farmer’s representatives led by Moiben MP Sila Tiren and KFA board member Kipkorir Menjo said the Covid-19 outbreak had adversely affected farming.
The government should continue to support farmers so that they plant food crops, they said.
“If our farmers are not supported then we may have food shortages in future. We must adhere to measures to control Covid-19 but ensure that we are food secure by having our farmers plant maize, beans and other food crops,” Tiren said.
Tiren said that the government should not rush to import maize before exhausting stocks held by farmers.
(edited by o. owino)
