Thirty-one young service providers will be supporting farmers in Makueni county to tackle fruit flies to enhance the quality of their mangoes and be competitive in the market.
The Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (Cabi) under the PlantwisePlus programme, has trained young service providers to help smallholder mango farmers in Kenya produce better quality fruits for the export market.
Cabi projects support officer Linda Likoko said the Training of Youth Service Providers project seeks to help in tackling a range of challenges mango farmers face, such as the threat posed by fruit flies.
Kenya is the 15th largest mango producer in the world and the fruit is the third most important export fruit after avocado and banana.
In July 2021, Kenya’s mango exports hit 3.05 million kilogrammes, worth Sh493 million.
But according to the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO), farmers often lose between 40-45 per cent of their crop due to poor harvesting and post-harvest handling techniques as well as pests and diseases.
Kenya has since 2013 placed a self-imposed ban on the export of mangoes to the European Union. This is due to the fruit fly menace but the resumption of mangoes to Europe started during the November to March 2022 season.
Likoko said mango farmers in Makueni are often faced with numerous challenges including the inability to take care of the fruit trees throughout the season.
This is in addition to inadequate knowledge among farmers on recommended good agricultural practices for the mango value chain and nursery certification.
Likoko said the trained service providers were previously employed as pickers, pruners, sorters, and graders of mangoes. But the training provided by CABI has given them the chance to earn extra income in advisory and spray service provision.
“They will not only serve the farmers under Keitt Exporters Limited, but their services can also be offered to other mango farmers within Makueni county,” she said.
Likoko said the service providers were trained on how to recognise microbial pathogens such as fungus, bacteria, virus and water mould.
This is with an emphasis on diagnosing pests and diseases in mangoes, citrus and other horticultural crops.
The service providers were also taught how to recognise them by looking at their general appearance and highlighting the symptoms they cause in plants.
The 31 young service providers will offer a unique set of quality skills to support the agricultural extension services within Makueni county.
“It is very fulfilling to see the trained youth taking up the challenge to close the glaring agricultural extension gap by providing advisory and other agricultural services at various nodes of the value chains," Likoko said.
“The farmers are learning to trust them, thanks to the social capital of partner organisations on the ground. Going forward, we will work with like-minded partners to ensure that these young service providers champion the message on the production of safe, high-quality food as lead farmers, mentors and trainers, and subsequently, earn a living from it.”
Youth engagement manager at Cabi Deogratius Magero said the training offered by the organisation and partners in agricultural service provision has significantly supported farmers adoption of safe pest management practices, consequently contributing to safer high-quality yields.
“We have also seen one of the trained youths proceed to establish an agro-dealer shop to facilitate farmer access to inputs,” Magero said.
The project in being carried out by Keitt Exporters Limited through a partnership with the Micro Enterprises Support Programme Trust (MESPT).