The Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC) G-Soko has announced it has received a grant of US$4.4million for the development of a grain trade system.
G-Soko is an electronic trading system that comprises a network of automated grain aggregation centres and certified warehouses linked to a virtual trading platform and participating banks for settlement and buyers/millers, all regulated by EAGC under defined set of protocols, procedures, rules and regulations.
The grant will be used for Phase II of the project on “Development of a Structured Grain Trade Systems East Africa” which will run from October 2015 to 2017.
The project will focus on testing and adjusting the trade platform – more warehouses will be certified and linked to the e-market and over 250,000 smallholder farmers linked to the formal market, thereby resulting in increased incomes and volume of grains traded.
“The key benefit of this project is a transformative grain trade system that enables farmers and traders to trade transparently and competitively while accessing best and fair market prices and reducing transaction costs,” Director of EAGC, Mr. Gerald Masila said in a press release.
Phase I of the project, which cost £1.3million and ran from January to July 2015, saw the development and launch of the EAGC G-Soko system.
During this first phase, 22 warehouses were certified, and over 26,000 metric tonnes of grains valued at about US$1million and 10,000 farmers were linked to the EAGC G-Soko system via village aggregation centres.
The grant for Phase II of the project was granted by the DFID-funded FoodTrade East and Southern Africa project (FoodTrade ESA) with the agreement signed at the Southern Sun Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya on October 16, 2015.
EAGC, Launched in January 2006 and headquartered in Nairobi, is a regional grain trade organization dedicated to the task of improving the policy and trade environment for the betterment of the grain sector from producer to consumer.
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