Nairobi, June 15 -- Somewhere in Meru County, a smallholder farmer named Murimi is making a calculation he knows all too well. The long rains are here. His soil is prepped and ready. Yet, the certified seeds and fertiliser he needs might as well be locked behind a vault.

It isn't a lack of drive or land holding him back; it is simply that he cannot access affordable credit. Left with no real choice, Murimi will either turn to informal shylocks charging extortionate rates, or he won't plant a single seed this season.

Either way, he loses. And so does Kenya, a country currently bleeding roughly Sh250 billion every year just to import food.

Murimi's dilemma is quietly playing out in millions of shambas across our rural landscape every sin...