Othaya farmers to earn up to Sh350 million from sale of avocado

Avocado farmers in Othaya could start earning between Sh250 million and Sh350 million yearly from the fruit.

They have entered into a deal with an Italian company, Agrivalue Kenya Limited, which will be buying their fruits.

Farmers will sell the fruits at Sh17.5 per piece to the company. About 7,000 farmers in Othaya stand to benefit from the deal.

Company CEO Fabrizio Cardillo said he was happy with the produce and the company will start buying mature fruit on Monday as they wait for the rest to mature.

“We have all agreed to be patient and wait for the rest of the fruits to be ready for harvesting so that the fruits can fetch better prices abroad,” he said.

He spoke when he met farmers in Othaya on Saturday before visiting farms to inspect the fruits.

The company has trained 100 pickers who will be harvesting the fruit to minimise wastage.

Cardillo said the company will send experts to train farmers on the proper management of trees and how to identify mature fruits to avoid harvesting immature avocados.

This will also help improve quality and quantity.

The fruits will be exported to Europe and China

The company will also start an Avoboda programme in which boda boda riders will be involved in the transportation of fruits from the farm to collection centres.

The Avobodas will be modified so they can be suitable for transporting the fruits. Each will have the capacity to transport about 120 kilos of the fruit per trip.

Cardillo said the company may consider investing in cold rooms for the crop to be sorted locally and create more jobs.

Company managing director Boniface Mutungi discouraged farmers from selling fruits to brokers or other buyers once they sign the agreement.

Farmers will be receiving payment for their harvest three days after delivery.

“We have planned a programme with the farmers and by Monday, we shall start harvesting. From there, we shall increase the volume of the harvest until the end of the season,” he said.

KTDA company secretary Patrick Ngunjiri, who have been assisting farmers in sourcing market and improving production, said the deal is a great milestone.

He said this is the second phase which involves forming one monolithic strong agency to market their avocados so farmers can control the market and set prices for their fruits.

Ngunjiri, who is vying for the Othaya parliamentary seat in the August 9 election, has been instrumental in bringing farmers together to help them earn better from avocado and supplement their tea earnings.

The first phase involved bringing the farmers together in small groups in various wards in the constituency. Othaya has four wards-Mahiga, Chinga, Iria-ini and Karima.

“I'm happy that we are now through with that phase. We have now entered the second phase of this programme which is market linkages and aggregation where we are negotiating with the buyers,” he said.

“Today we have launched the harvesting season for the year 2022 and what we expect to do is to continuously sell the product when it is ready up to September.”

Ngunjiri said the 100 trained pickers will start working as soon as harvesting starts.

He said they will be looking for more areas of collaboration with Agrivalue Company so they can invest in Othaya across the avocado value chain.

The direct sale of the fruits, Ngunjiri added, will eliminate middlemen in the value chain who exploit farmers.

“We want to deal directly with the people who are buying because that way, we cut off the brokers and the agents who want to exploit the primary producers. In so doing, we bring value to the farmers and they will fetch a higher price than if there were brokers in the value chain,” he said.

The chairman of the newly formed Othaya Avocado Empowerment Centre, Nderitu Kirugumi, said farmers have been selling their fruits at between Sh2 and Sh5 apiece to brokers.

Experts say, with proper management, a tree is able to produce about 2,000 to 3,000 avocados a year.

Edited by A.N