Murang'a avocado farmers eye billions abroad, build centre for direct exports

The farmers have formed Murang’a Avocado Farmers Cooperative Union, an umbrella of 11 farmers’ cooperatives. They have been selling their fruits through exporters.

But they have now procured a two-acre farm in Kandara subcounty on which they are establishing an aggregating centre that will help them consolidate and prepare their fruits for the export market.

The Sh69 million centre will be fitted with cold rooms that will help the farmers to pack the fruits. It is being funded in part by the National and Rural Inclusive Growth Project (NARIGP) that is implemented by the World Bank in partnership with the government.

Union chairperson John Mwaniki said NARIGP has supported the project with Sh49 million while farmers contributed Sh20 million.

 Once the centre is completed, Mwaniki said the cooperative plans to establish grading sheds in each of the eight subcounties that will also be fitted with cold rooms to preserve the quality of the fruits.

“We have already found a partner who is willing to fund the construction of the grading sheds. Farmers will also be trained to become certified organic avocado farmers,” he said.

Mwaniki said that the union has already identified international buyers willing to take their fruits directly.

Buyers from Mexico and Italy will buy the coveted Hass variety while others in Egypt and Dubai are willing to buy Fuerte.

Mwaniki said exporting their fruits directly will drastically raise their earnings as farmers as it will shorten the value chain.

Last season, Mwaniki said farmers received between Sh77 to Sh87 per kilogramme from exporters and that they have since put in place a minimum price of Sh120 per kilogramme this season.

But with direct exports, Mwaniki said they hope to earn between Sh200 to Sh250 per kilogramme, raking in Sh6 billion in revenue annually and raising the fruit’s position as one of the highest revenue earners in the county after tea.

“We grow our fruits organically, which raises their quality and demand, and that’s why exporters come to us. We are planning to actualise this plan next year to empower farmers and boost revenue for the county government,” he said.

Mwaniki revealed that the farmers have plans to establish a plant that will process fruits that don’t qualify for export, such as those with sun burns, to produce oil.

Four members of the union have undergone training on how to produce animal feeds from avocado seeds and skin in order to maximise returns for farmers.

Mwaniki said the project will take the county back to where it was decades ago when the coffee sector was thriving and local farmers were wealthy. Only this time, it will be through avocados.

In the two-acre land, the farmers will also establish avocado nurseries and employ youths who will tend to them while helping in harvesting of avocados during their season.

The nurseries will get a certification from Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (Kephis) and will ensure local farmers plant good quality trees.

“The youths will also show farmers who buy seedlings how to best plant and tend to them at no extra cost”.

With the county producing about 45.6 percent of all fruits exported from the country, Mwaniki said the future is bright for farmers.

He however expressed concerns over farm gate theft that has seen farmers incurring hefty losses with some forced to guard their farms at night.

“Some of the farmers are however elderly and are unable to guard their farms but we are working with the local leadership to close down local kiosks that sell avocados as they fuel the theft”.

“Even small boys are now able to sneak into people’s farms and steal fruits which they then sell to local vendors”.

He emphasized the need for exporters to ensure their suppliers issue receipts to farmers so that they are able to account for the fruits they are found transporting.

Last year, Mwaniki said the co-operative received Sh3 million from Narigp to help procure organic traps and pesticides for farmers which ensured the fruits were of good quality and reduced losses.

But with climate change that brought about prolonged drought last year, he said many trees shed fruits and that they are planning to get experts to train farmers on how to tend to avocado trees to ensure they don’t shed fruits during dry seasons.