By Benedict Ng’etich
Strong and established savings and Credit Societies in Kericho County have been urged to assist small marketing societies by giving them soft loans.
The Kericho County Director of Co operatives Leonard Otii pleaded with the strong saccos to extend the support in order to grow their businesses reach and also lift the struggling Saccos.
“I thank some of the big societies in this county that already give loans to the several Coffee and Sugarcane marketing societies and in the same breath I urge others who have not done so to come up with ways of doing so. In the end the standard of living of everybody concerned will go up,” he said.
The director took the opportunity to congratulate Kenya Highlands Sacco for being in the forefront in granting soft loans to various sugarcane marketing societies found in Soin-Sigowet Sub County and also several coffee co operatives in Kipkelion East and West.
The soft loans which are given at favourable terms of interest and repayment periods are mostly utilised in the purchase of farm inputs, on time, for the small scale farmers.
Otii urged the County Government, local leaders and other stakeholders in the sector to focus on the revival of the many marketing societies which used to exist in the region in the past but have since been run down.
The official took time to urge the many small scale coffee co-operatives in the county to embrace and adopt simple methods of production and processing of final products.
Otii also cautioned the co-operatives against mixing politics and sacco operations.
