Avocado farmers from Kisii County will now have a ready market for their produce after the British High Commissioner to Kenya, Jane Marriott, and Kisii County Governor Simba Arati commissioned a 70-tonne avocado oil extraction project in Kisii.
The UK Government has played a key role in catalysing the investment by providing expert advice and seed fund support totalling Sh79 million.
The seed fund was utilised in building the logistical framework to maximise fruit collection in Kisii through the purchase of nine trucks that are used for the transportation of avocado across the county to the facility.
The extraction facility will provide opportunity for farmers to access markets for their produce and reduce wastage previously experienced due to a lack of available markets to sell all the produce, leading to post-harvest loss.
The extraction yield will range between 4-10 percent, depending on the varieties of fruits supplied as raw materials.
The newly commissioned factory will utilise avocados sourced locally from farmers to produce avocado oil mainly for the export market.
The facility has a capacity to process up to 70 tonnes of avocados daily which will ripen for a period of 7-10 days before the extraction of the oil.
Ms Marriott said the investment project is a partnership between the UK Government and AvoFresh Processors Limited and has been implemented by the UK’s Sustainable Urban Economic Development Programme (SUED) in collaboration with Kisii County and Kisii Municipality.
She added, “ The commissioning of this facility is a demonstration that, by working in partnership, it is possible to come up with real opportunities and empower our people to cope with daily challenges.”
In addition to increasing farm yields, the project will also enhance the existing farmer co-operative societies by providing the necessary training and capacity building to farmers on better farming methods.
Mr Arati said that the project is the first agro-processing factory in the County, noting that agriculture is the mainstay for over 80 percent of the County residents.
“We convey our gratitude to the British Government for selecting Kisii Municipality among the top 12 fast-growing municipalities in Kenya where the UK Government is implementing the Sustainable Urban Economic Development (SUED) programme,” said Mr Arati
The governor added, “We are very thankful because we are aware that this is support from citizens of the UK to our residents. We intend to account for this by demonstrating evidence for improved Quality of Life both as a government responsibility and a moral obligation that we must fulfill. “
The county chief instructed the Department of Agriculture to give the investor full support to ensure the sustainability of this project.
To increase production of the Hass variety, the governor said his administration had embarked on a programme that will see an annual distribution of the Hass seedlings to farmers.
“We have already completed the procurement processes for our first phase of this programme and soon our farmers will be receiving the seedlings,” said the governor as he added that he had instructed his officers to come up with a clear formula on the distribution of the seedlings for the county to realise equity and value for the taxpayers’ money.
“My administration will also continue coming up with legislation geared towards creating an enabling environment not only for this particular investor but for all other investments in our various sectors of the economy,” noted Mr Arati as he pleaded with the Kisii County Assembly Speaker and the members of the County Assembly to support by approving the necessary legislations for implementation.
The AvoFresh Project Manager Mr David Gitonga said that the factory has invested Sh 355 million into the extraction facility and will in the first year create 95 direct factory jobs, and 100 induced jobs and will work with 1000 farmers, which will increase to 3,000 in subsequent years.
“The UK Government support both technical and financial has enabled us to reach many more farmers by having in place logistical support to reach some of the hard-to-access farmers across the County. We are happy to see the facility work and serve the farmers as envisioned,” said Mr Gitonga.
He noted that the Kisii County Government is providing legislative and political support to ensure that Avofresh has a conducive business environment that will enable them to operate efficiently.
“Through its agriculture department, the county and municipality have sensitised farmers to plant more avocado trees thus guaranteeing the availability of raw materials. To date, the county has supplied more than 120,000 Hass seedlings to them. In addition, the County is leasing a go-down to Avofresh on its land at Agricultural Training Centre (ATC) where the extraction facility is located,” said Mr Gitonga.
