By Felix Ochieng Akech

Maize farmer Tobias Okuna has nearly doubled his maize selling price, and got a loan beforehand, by putting his harvest into a community storage centre instead of storing it in sacks on his farm.

He switched to the centre after years of losing about a quarter of his maize to mould and weevils. “Before, I used to dry maize on the tarpaulin and store in sacks. Within two weeks the weevils had already started. Other times, the maize would mould because the moisture wasn’t fully out,” said Tobias.

“Sometimes I would open a sack and just feel like crying — the whole bottom was black with mould.”

When an extension officer introduced the new storage facility, called an aeration centre, Tobias Okuna decided to try it out. “I said let me try with ten bags. When I saw the difference in quality, I decided I will never store maize in the house again.”

Becuse he could wait to sell, he also got a much higher price. He used to sell as fast as possible, at around Sh32 to Sh35 per kg to avoid spoilage. But with his stored maize, he waited for the market to improve and sold at Sh52 per kg. “For the first time, I felt like farming maize can pay.”

Tobias paid Sh20 per kg for the drying and Sh3 per day per bag for aeration and storage. For his 20 bags stored for a month, he spent about Sh6,400. “I would rather pay the centre than let weevils eat my money.”

After the storage costs, he earned about Sh28,000 more than in previous seasons. “That money paid school fees for my boy. Before, I used to struggle.”

He also got a loan early through the warehouse receipt system. “I borrowed Sh12,000 using the receipt because I had an emergency. When I sold the maize, they deducted it and gave me the balance. It really helped.”

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 “You bring your bags, they weigh them, check moisture — mine was 17% so it had to go for drying. After drying and aeration, they pack it in the warehouse and give you a receipt that shows weight and grade.”

“I watch the weighing myself. They tell you moisture level openly. Everything is recorded.”

“The biggest change is peace of mind. I don’t rush to sell. I also planted an extra acre this year because I know storage is not a problem.”

“My brothers, weevils don’t sleep. If you store maize in the house, they will eat your profit. This is the first season I feel like I am farming for myself, not for the weevils.”