- Kericho farmers urged to join Saccos and embrace digital services.
- Saccos are pushing automation, integration and stronger cybersecurity.
- Farmers can access financing for tractors and agricultural equipment.
Farmers in Kericho County have been encouraged to join savings and credit cooperative societies (Saccos) and take up digital financial services, as stakeholders push for greater access to credit and expanded agricultural enterprises.
The appeal emerged during the ICT and Digital Transformation for Saccos conference, held at a hotel in Kericho. Cooperative leaders and industry stakeholders gathered to explore how technology could enhance service delivery and boost financial inclusion among members.
Digital transformation takes centre stage
Much of the conference centred on digital transformation and how emerging technology could reshape the relationship between Sacco members and their institutions. Participants agreed that members should ultimately be able to manage savings, loans and repayments through their mobile phones, with transactions and alerts processed in near real time.
Imarisha Sacco Business Development Manager Tevin Maina noted that regulated Saccos across the country now serve about 7.4 million members and hold assets worth roughly Ksh1.808 trillion, underscoring the sector’s growing importance within the national financial system. Widespread mobile phone use, he added, presented a major opportunity for Saccos to extend digital services further, including to members in remote areas.
Even so, speakers acknowledged that the shift toward digital platforms has not been without challenges. Outdated systems and poorly integrated applications were flagged as key barriers, prompting calls for greater automation, stronger system integration and improved cybersecurity measures across the sector.
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Stima Sacco shared insights from its own experience consolidating shared services, having brought mobile transactions, cheque clearing and agency banking functions under a single department. The Sacco’s asset base grew from about Ksh32 billion in 2018 to Ksh75 billion by 2024, while its membership surpassed 260,000 over the same period.
Imarisha Sacco, for its part, highlighted its expanding diaspora membership, with about 10% of its roughly 280,000 members based abroad, across the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and Australia. The Sacco called for improved remittance systems, stronger anti money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) support, better data protection, and faster cheque clearing services, all aimed at improving the experience for diaspora based members.
County official backs Sacco-bank partnerships
Elsewhere at the conference, Kericho’s County Executive Committee Member for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, John Cheruiyot, urged farmers to leverage Saccos and forge partnerships with financial institutions. According to him, doing so would help them access affordable financing and strengthen their farming operations.
Drawing from his own experience as a Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) member since 1993, Cheruiyot expressed confidence in Sacco-bank partnerships. He encouraged farmers to use such collaborations to secure funding for agricultural investments.
Kenya Highlands Sacco Chief Executive Officer Alice Kosgei echoed similar sentiments, noting that stronger collaboration between Saccos and financial institutions would ease the process of obtaining farming finance. Deeper cooperation within the sector, she added, would open up better opportunities for farmers to grow their enterprises and improve productivity.
The renewed push for financing comes as farmers continue to grapple with challenges in acquiring machinery and other agricultural inputs. Under an ongoing partnership, eligible farmers can access financing covering up to 95% of the cost of New Holland tractors and Nardi agricultural equipment, with repayment periods stretching up to 60 months.
Additionally, the financing package includes a 60 day repayment holiday and a full year of free insurance. Together, these features are designed to help farmers acquire much needed equipment while managing their cash flows more comfortably.
By Benedict Aoya
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