Kwale mango farmers and traders have asked the county government to speed up the construction of Shimba Hills fruit processing plant.
They are also pushing the county assembly to pass laws to protect local farmers from exploitation by middlemen.
According to the farmers, an apple mango in Kwale county can go for as little as Sh5, whereas the same size of the fruit is sold between Sh20 and Sh40 in Tana River county.
They complained that they are sometimes forced to sell their fruits for as little as Sh1 so that they do not incur losses of fruits rotting in the farms.
Kwale county is constructing the fruit processing plant at Kubo South ward in Matuga constituency.
The project started in 2019 and was to be completed by this year, but it has taken time to be completed, according to the farmers.
Due to lack of markets, farmers are forced to sell their fruits locally and to the neighbouring Tanzania markets, but they are exploited by the middlemen.
Mangale Kabata, a farmer in the county, said fruit processing plant will help farmers sell their fruits locally at a standardised price.
“If we had a firm that would be taking all the surplus fruits to make juice from them and also for value addition, things would be better,” Kabata said.
He said they are forced to sell their mangoes at throw away prices to curb losses, adding that mango fruit has the potential of changing Kwale’s economy.
Lucy Wanjiru, a wholesale mango trader, said the fruits’ prices in Kwale county are very low compared to other regions because of excess production.
Wanjiru said the county lacks a proper market structure for mango farmers. “We are not making any profits because mangoes from Kwale are being sold at very low prices both locally and internationally.”
She said if the county completed the fruit processing plant, the farmers would not be exploited by brokers.
Mwakuyala Mohammed from Mwangulu said the lack of a fruit processing plant is a major challenge to the mango farmers.
He said the farmers have to sell more than three trucks of mangoes to get profits.
Mohammed said the local farmers and traders also lack access to financial support for their businesses.
He said many farmers are still using old farming techniques that require a lot of resources for little yields.
Recently, Kwale Deputy Governor Fatuma Achani said the fruit processing plant is expected to be ready by next year. "The Shimba Hills fruit processing firm is in the third phase and it's making good progress."
In a separate interview early this year, Governor Salim Mvurya assured the residents that his administration is committed to completing all the flagship development projects.
He said when the fruit processing plant is completed no farmers shall cry of losses.
(edited by Amol Awuor)
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