Page 181 - AFAP Success Stories 2020

Challenges
Since 2013 Kamm Farmer Services Ltd has faced the challenge of high transport
costs, long and unpredictable turnaround times and high risk in terms of theft
of goods that can sometimes be diverted by frustrated drivers for their personal
gain. As a Hub Agrodealer, Kato Hassan, director of Kamm Farmers Services, has
been importing fertilizers when he started his own agro-input business since
2013. This was separate from the family business that started in 1990. A trip
from Malaba would cost him USD571 and a trip from Nairobi to Masaka would
cost him USD1285. This would depend on the season and how much trucks
were in demand. During peak season, truck hire could go as high as USD600
and USD1500 for those routes respectively. Weekly demand for 237.5MT was
relatively high despite the fact Kato did not own a truck and he had four main
delivery routes: Kampala, Masaka, Kisoro and Kabaale. Kato had to do two trips to
those locations every week. These extra costs would ripple down to smallholder
farmers, increasing the cost of fertilizer. The situation was made worse when the
deliveries did not arrive when scheduled.
Additionally, the Hub Agrodealer had limited options with regard to suppliers
when his usual suppliers did not have the fertilizers he needed.
Kamm Farmer Services is a sole distributor of certain new fertilizer blends on the
market from Kenya; DAP from DMBL and Chapa Solai, but was facing challenges
in penetrating some markets.

Initiative

AFAP intervened to assist Kamm Farmers services acquire a means of transport
to move fertilizers and other inputs from Malaba/Nairobi to the different delivery
points. AFAP matched the cost of the 12.5MT truck in which African Fertilizer
and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) contributed USD15,000 and Kamm Farmer
Services contributed USD20,000 to buy the truck in full. Kamm completed his
payments for the truck within three months, having received the truck in May
2019.

AFAP has involved the Agrodealer in a series of business-to-business (market
linkage) meetings in which he struck a deal to be a distributor for Yara in Central
and Western Uganda.

Maria Hassan, Kato’s wife taking stock of fertilizers being offloaded
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