More than 500 smallholder banana farmers in Taveta, Taita Taveta county, are expected to reap big from a deal to export organic bananas to Denmark.
The county government in partnership with the Micro Enterprise Support Programme Trust (MESPT) has initiated a plan to export at least 700 tonnes of organic bananas.
The farmers will export their produce to Orana, a Danish fruit company.
The deal is set to open up a market for banana produce, promote environmental conservation and increase household income in the agricultural rich region.
To ensure steady production, MESPT targets to support farmers plant 126,000 organic tissue culture banana seedlings.
Some 30,000 seedlings have been distributed to targeted farmers, according to Danida market developments programme’s manager Kuria Kung’u.
He said they are supporting 1,500 farmers engaged in conventional banana farming to increase production.
DMDP, currently being implemented by MESPT, targets to support banana farmers and develop the banana sector to enhance competitiveness under the Danish-funded programme.
“We are targeting to support farmers doing conventional banana farming with 600,000 tissue culture banana seedlings. This will help us achieve the targeted annual export capacity,” he said.
County agriculture executive Erickson Kyongo said the banana export deal will place the county as the first in the country to export organic produce.
The deal, he said, will culminate with the signing of an arrangement between the county government and Orana fresh fruits company to revive the stalled banana processing plant in Taveta.
“Plans are in top gear to ink a deal with Orana for the completion of the stalled plant. This will further bolster banana production in our region,” Kyongo said on Wednesday.
Completion of the banana processing plant will expand the horticultural crop's market and create more than 800 jobs.
Kyongo said the department is committed to supporting the programme to deliver Sustainable Development Goals eight and 17 on decent work and economic growth and partnerships for sustainable development, respectively.
He revealed that plans to establish a sanitary towels plant in Taveta that will be using banana by-products are at advanced stages.
Orana director Niels Osterberg said banana farmers will be trained on post-harvest handling to ensure their produce meet export quality.
He urged farmers to increase production ahead of the anticipated export market to meet the demand.
“The seedlings being distributed are part of interventions to ensure sustainable production capacity. We are roping in more farmers to join the profitable banana production,” Osterberg said.
In the recent past, the region recorded a double increase in banana production with more than 6,000 farmers in Taveta involved in commercial farming of the crop.
The acreage under bananas has doubled from 2,080 acres in 2017 to about 4,104 acres, with yields of up to 65,280 tonnes.
In the county, banana crop is grown by more than 17,000 households for subsistence and commercial use.
The county is the second leading banana producer countrywide, according to the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation.
The farmers have, however, been counting losses for lack of a stable market.