Agro- produce market intermediation and financing BM FRESH PRODUCE SUPPLIER Bernard Maina

Product range and volumes  French beans 30 tones per week or 120 tones a month  Value in Ksh 1.2 M (17142 US$) and Ksh. 5 m (71428 US$ ) a month.(exchange rate of 1$ = Ksh 70)  Mostly intermediation between export companies  Business level upper lower scale

Product range and volumes cont..  Fresh tomatoes  8 tones a week (32 tones a month) to supermarkets and 6 tones(24 tones a month) to the informal markets  Produce outsourced directly from over 54 households  French beans pay out Ksh 30 per Kilogram

Employment  Business employs directly 20 employees daily on French beans and 6 employees in tomatoes business daily.  Monthly pay is weekly (4weeks) = Ksh (US$ 3450)  Self employment

Business financing challenges  Inability to get liquid cash to pay small holder producers  Inability to access equipment and trucks due to informalities in getting security items  Post harvest losses due to inaccessibility to credits and loan for cold room

If I had capital ;  Always wanted to have a cold room to reduce post harvest loses.  Get more markets and pay farmers always promptly for the produce sold.  Hired bigger office and computers and more experts to improve my business.  Buy more trucks, get more office equipment, reach more markets