Post-harvest losses for fresh produce farmers in Nyandarua are expected to drop from 50 to below 10 per cent following the opening of a central market for the produce in Naivasha.
The market along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway will link the farmers with consumers with tens of hotels in Naivasha being the main beneficiaries.
The ‘Vasha Greens’ which has been constructed through the support of World Wide Fund for Nature becomes the first facility in the country to get a KS1758 compliance certificate.
According to WWF programme coordinator in Naivasha landscape Caroline Njiru, for years farmers had suffered heavily from post-harvest losses.
She blamed this on lack of a ready market and poor planning for hundreds of farmers mainly in Nyandarua county which is one of the country’s food baskets.
Njiru said that the vegetables that would be sold in the green-shop were sustainably produced and free of chemicals with the market supporting 140 farmers groups in the first phase.
“With the opening of this green shop, we expect post-harvest losses to drop to below 10 per cent as we have linked the farmers to the consumers,” she said on Thursday.
Speaking during the opening of the shop in Naivasha and along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway, Njiru said that the targeted farmers had been trained before their produce were certified.
“This central shop will link the farmers and the consumers while addressing the issue of pollution and water conservation in the catchment area,” she said.
Lake Naivasha Basin Sustainable Horticulture Farmers chairman James Maina termed the new venture as a blessing for the farmers.
He said that for years, brokers had exploited them by determining the prices and through packaging, terming this as a thing of the past.
“We are now in position to determine the prices and the huge losses which we incurred will end as we have a ready market for vegetables that have been sustainably produced,” he said.
On her part, Tricxie Akinyi from Food and Agriculture Authority was full of praise for the shop, noting that the issue of food safety had been addressed.
She said that more than 480,000 people were dying every year for eating contaminated food, adding that the organisation was working with supermarkets to provide safety corners.
“The produce sold by these farmers have been certified as very safe for consumption and this comes at a time when many consumers are keen on food safety,” she said.
Cyprian Kabbis from Bureau Vertis which was involved in the certification exercise said that farmers had met all the set standards which included sustainable farming and food safety.
“This becomes the first fresh produce shop in the country to receive KS1758 compliance certificate which makes their products safe for human consumption,” he said.
(edited by Amol Awuor)
