A Sh210 million payment delay is causing fresh financial strain among rice farmers in Kirinyaga County, who say they are struggling to meet school fees and keep their farms running after delivering rice to the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC).
The farmers, through the Mwea Rice Growers Multipurpose Cooperative Society (MRGM), said they completed a government-backed supply deal but are yet to receive the money that was due by July 31.
The cooperative said KNTC purchased 1,824 tonnes of milled white rice, equivalent to about 25,200 bags of paddy, after the society experienced difficulties finding a market for its members’ produce.
MRGM chairperson Ndege Muriuki said the Ministry of Agriculture, the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) and KNTC agreed to buy the rice, giving the cooperative three weeks to deliver the order.
He said the farmers worked within the set period to ensure the full consignment reached the buyer, hoping the payment would follow soon after.
“We are asking the government to use every means available to facilitate payment so that we can pay farmers. We have many farmers with pressing needs, including taking their children back to school and preparing for the next season,” he said.
Muriuki said farmers normally expect to receive money for their rice around May or June, but the marketing challenges they faced after harvesting pushed the payments further away.
He said the situation has left some farmers relying on shylocks to raise money for household needs and farming activities as they wait for their earnings.
MRGM chief executive Antony Waweru said the cooperative went to great lengths to meet KNTC’s order within the three-week deadline.
He said the mill had to operate at night and on Sundays so that the society could process enough rice and complete the delivery on time.
“We delivered the total order, valued at Sh210 million, which was supposed to be paid by July 31 as agreed. Since then, we have waited, but the promise is only that we are going to be paid,” Waweru said.
Waweru said the unpaid bill has affected the cooperative’s operations and left farmers facing difficulties accessing their money.
He said some cheques issued to farmers have failed to clear at banks because the cooperative is still waiting for KNTC to settle its bill.
The chief executive appealed to the government to ensure KNTC receives the funds required to clear the debt, saying farmers need the money for school fees and to support crops already planted.
He said releasing the payment would help ease the financial pressure on both the cooperative and its members, who have been waiting for the money after delivering the rice as agreed.
Muriuki said the society had sought government support after farmers harvested their crop but struggled to secure a market for the rice, eventually resulting in the arrangement with the Ministry of Agriculture, AFA and KNTC.
The farmers are now calling for the outstanding amount to be released so the cooperative can settle what it owes its members and allow them to meet their immediate family and farming needs.