Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC) has launched G-Soko Platform, an online trading platform that will link smallholder farmers to grain buyers through a structured market mechanism.

The platform was officiated by the East African Community’s Secretary General, Richard Sezibera.

The G-Soko platform is developed by the Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC) in partnership with Food Trade Eastern and Southern Africa, and Virtual City, a leading mobile software solutions firm supporting the supply chain and agribusiness industry in Africa.

This is through a five year trade enhancement and promotion programme that aims at encouraging trading in regional staple food markets.

The UK through DFID Africa Regional Department has invested £35 million in the Food Trade Eastern and Southern Africa programme to stimulate the regional grains market through partnerships with private companies and policy influencing.

Executive Director of EAGC, Mr Gerald Masila, said, there is urgency to expand regional food trade due to the exponential growth of staple food imports.

“Linking rural food surplus production zones in Eastern Africa to major deficit urban consumption centres requires a well-functioning regional market. We wanted to address this deficiency but also do it in a way that is inclusive and effective.

This is why we developed G-Soko; a market transaction platform that will enhance food trade across borders, and contribute towards making trading more transparent,” he said.

The platform performs a structured trade function that integrates the entire grain trade from farm to market. Through G-Soko, farmers are able to aggregate their produce through a certified warehouse and also access financial services using their grains as collateral.

He noted that for the first time, grain farmers in the region including Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda will be able to trade their grain free, competitively and transparently across the region, through the G-Soko Platform.

Reiterating the technical capabilities of the platform and its role as a solution-provider, Virtual City Managing Director, John Waibochi noted that, “The model addresses the challenge of funds inadequacy by devising affordable export/import financing modalities. It creates synergies from the small scale farmers to the bulk buyers based on tested market structures.”

This system also enhances traceability of grains. Its grain bulking feature allows farmers to consolidate and sell grain at aggregation centres linked to certified warehouses.

More importantly, G-Soko will Iincrease the utilisation of East African standards for grain commodities and products because quality assurance is key.

Source: Daily News

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