Village Information Resource and Exchange Centres (VIRECs)
It is in recognition of the inherent challenges that smallholder farmers face that KENDAT was motivated to set up Village Information Resource and Exchange Centres (VIRECs). These hard working but spatially dispersed and determined farmers needed platforms where they could be organized for training in business, structure and integration, hence coordinated voice and participatory technology transfer processes. At VIRECs, previously elusive information is converted to knowledge as supply-side actors (researchers, input and finance suppliers, buying companies etc.) meet smallholder farming entrepreneurs on equal footing.
A precondition for marketing of high-value products is properly grounded social capital, logistical efficiency and proper management of various activities within the supply chains. For the last 15 years KENDAT has exposed smallholder farmers in conservation farming practices, focusing on soil, water and farm power efficiency in journeys from subsistence to commercial farming. This has included no-till farming, renewable energy applications on-farm and local transport services (including animal power) for load consolidation, handling, packaging and outward transport to established final markets. The new markets necessarily demand high quality, timely deliveries, environmental stewardship among other innovative upstream and downstream practices in organic farming and ethical trade.
KENDAT has indeed been the smallholder farmers’ respected partner and ambassador in an increasingly complex global trade arena. This position has advanced, in tune with development as KENDAT has established model climate change farms to back the VIRECs, quickly attracting farmers to join as out-growers in a business network and system. These farmers today feed established markets such as that by world renowned and community (improvement) focused, Kenya Horticultural Exporters (KHE) company. This is the vision towards which expansion is needed at the KENDAT VIREC business hubs, backed by climate change and systematically supported, technology transfer business farms.
KENDAT has been working to link farmers to markets. Her efforts have seen some 2000 farmers connected to produce-buying companies, raising their income levels from a meagre USD 480 under subsistence oriented agriculture to USD 3000 per year. This is additional to other structural and social capital gains at the market place, towards commercial farming oriented agri-business. This intervention process gained more vigour and promise as KENDAT founded and brought into use the VIRECs. These hubs for enhanced agribusiness exchanges and technology transfer have been accepted as the key to fast-tracking growth in smallholder farm businesses. This is mostly due to the more secured service support to on-farm entrepreneurs, from a more holistic and livelihoods perspective and approach.
The associated business schemes have new and credible thrusts in sustainable development, climaxing interventions in model demonstration farming to back the accessible service hubs (VIRECs). The hubs have made it possible to close the gap between supply-side and demand side by availing training for informed access to inputs, labour saving technologies, drastic improvement in utilization of soil, water and energy resources, under environment and food security-sensitive, income growing activities.
