• Wa Iria said unscrupulous traders have been amassing riches through avocado exports at the expense of hardworking farmers.
• The biggest challenge has been price disparities. You’ll find an exporter buying the fruit at Sh5 and another Sh30.
Avocado exporters buying the fruit from Murang'a must register with the county authorities, Governor Mwangi Wa Iria has said.
The move is meant to lock exploitative brokers out and ensure farmers maximise profits during the harvesting season that begins next month.
Wa Iria said unscrupulous traders have been amassing riches through avocado exports at the expense of hardworking farmers.
“The biggest challenge has been price disparities. You’ll find an exporter buying the fruit at Sh5 and another Sh30. We want to bridge the gap to ensure value for farmers,” Wa Iria said.
The county chief spoke after a meeting with the fruit exporters in Thika.
Wa Iria said that only selected exporters who agree to government’s terms such as prices, payment and other logistics will be allowed to buy avocados in Murang’a.
“This way we will have kicked out traders who have been oppressing our farmers,” he said.
He said his administration has an enforcement team that will ensure that all avocado buyers conform to the county’s requirements and have permits.
Wa Iria said that the county earned Sh7 billion from avocado trade last year.
The governor said that in two years the region will get up to Sh20 billion from avocados.
“We are undertaking serious reforms in the avocado business that will ensure the profits triple,” Wairia said.
Wa Iria said that avocado is overtaking coffee farming as the preferred agribusiness.
Avocado farmers have increased from 100,000 to 250,000 after the county distributed 1 million seedlings to farmers across the county.
Coffee farmers in Murang’a county are estimated to be 70,000.
We want to grow both but avocado is the crop that is fetching farmers good money. That’s why we are doing everything in our capacity to protect it, he said.
The county chief said that Murang’a MCAs are preparing an avocado bill that will protect the entire avocado value chain so farmers and traders can benefit.
“We will also be meeting avocado farmers at Kibereke Stadium in Kandara subcounty on Thursday,” he said.
The meeting to be attended by over 50,000 farmers will discuss avocado prices, mode of payments and other logistics like collection centres for the fruits.
Avocado Society of Kenya managing director Earnest Muthomi said that exporters must be checked.
“They must be regulated to ensure that the trade is conducted professionally and on a win-win basis,” Muthomi said.
He said that some rogue traders have made Kenyan avocados to be rejected in some foreign markets by harvesting the fruits when they are not ready.
“By weeding out these traders we will maintain the quality of our avocados and ensure they are competitive in the foreign markets,” he said.
Export trader George Kamau said that the move to regulate buying of the crop will benefit farmers and increase their productivity.
“As exporters we welcome the new regulations because they are aimed at benefiting the farmers. We trust that once the farmers reap high returns they will improve their productivity and sustain our trade,” Kamau said.
(edited by O. Owino)