NGPU March 23, 2023

Nakuru County seeks to work with entrepreneurs to ensure they attain ISO Standardization

Written by Jeremy Ogolla

The County seeks to work with Agriculture Industry Network (AIN) and other stakeholders in a move that will see various entrepreneurs undergo training programs on international food safety and standards to enable them to tap into both the local and international markets, having achieved the improved quality of their products.

The mentorship program takes the entrepreneurs drawn from Nakuru and its environs through training modules that enable them to master how to improve the quality of their products, thereby attaining International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification and Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) standardization that allows them to make an inroad to the local, regional and international markets.

To achieve this in economies of scale, County Cooperatives Chief Officer Mr Martin Kagai is calling on Nakuru residents to come up with registered groups and cooperatives so as to collectively benefit from such programmes which will ensure their sustainability and market diversity.

“Nakuru County under the leadership of H.E Governor Susan Kihika will be organizing training on how to run the Cooperatives and groups in terms of management and governance so they don’t break along the way and instead they sell their quality products to various markets thereby achieving their goals and missions,” said CO.

The Cooperatives Chief said the County is also working round the clock to ensure the businesses and Cooperatives across the county benefit from the Enterprise fund once it is implemented by the county government.

The move is among entrepreneurial programs by the H.E Governor Susan Kihika who underscores that the fund will unlock the County’s potential and aspirations in the MSMEs sector.

The CO was speaking during the closing of workshop training that saw about 20 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) undergo training on sustainable packaging methods, storage technologies and reverse logistics.

Ms Zipporah Maina, AIN Development and Project Coordinator said they zeroed in on Nakuru after conducting mapping which ascertained Nakuru and its environs as the most concentrated point in terms of the beneficiaries of the program who responded well to the call for the application to attend the training.

“After Nairobi, the concentration was in Nakuru and its environs so the training has seen entrepreneurs coming from Nyeri, Laikipia and Kericho,” said Zipporah.

The trainers were drawn from the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA), Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and other representatives from various departments within the departments of Trade, Agriculture and Health.

Other areas covered were finance models and fundraising, digital tools to enhance transparency and traceability, hygiene and premises maintenance and food safety.