Business Daily (Nairobi)
Steve Mbogo
29 April 2008
Regional governments have quickened pace for the formation of a commodity exchange to serve predominant small scale farmers in Eastern and Southern African countries.
Chief among the aims of the exchange is helping farmers to get better prices for their produce and facilitate issuance of commodity bonds to raise money for processing.
Mid this month, the team designing the work programme for the Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA) met in Zambia under the patronage of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa).
Dr James Nyoro of the Tegemeo Institute in Nairobi led the team that had partners from the American foreign development agency, USAID, the World Food Programme and East African Grain Association among others.
The latter has spearheaded setting up of the initial infrastructure for Kenya's maize exchange launched last week.
The team is expected to complete its work in early June and then decide on when the commodity exchange will be launched.
The regional produce market will, however, not restrict itself to the maize but will include bananas, cassava and beans.
Improving market access for such food crops is seen as one way of encouraging farmers to diversify production for sale to increase incomes and spread risks.
"At the national and regional levels, improved market systems will increase availability of staple foods and affordable prices and promote regional market integration," said Comesa secretariat.
Although maize is a staple crop in the targeted region, crop breeders have warned against over reliance on it because global warming may affect its yield and force countries to turn to cassava, millet and sorghum, which are more drought resistant.
Comesa said the exchange is expected to build cross-border alliances to strengthen innovative market institutions and create a link with the smallholder farmers.
The linkages will include empowering farmers in disadvantaged areas suffering from perennial drought or emerging from war situations like in Northern Uganda, but which have a potential to produce surplus food.
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