A group of farmers in Embu are adding value to bananas to increase market for the produce.
They make whole green banana flour which is gluten-free and rich in calcium, phosphorus and magnesium.
Stephen Mutuanga, chairman of Healthy Life Juices group based in Runyenjes, said adding value reduces post-harvest loss and increases the shelf life of green bananas.
He said by making whole green banana flour, they are seeking to reduce post-harvest losses and increasing the shelf life from less than five days to about eight months for the flour.
Mutuanga said the group was started in 2019 when they started making juices through the support of Uwezo Fund.
But this venture did not last long due to several challenges including poor weather which affected production of the fruits.
They were also faced with the challenge of lack of storage facilities to preserve the fruit that they were processing.
“We decided to shift to adding value to cassava, groundnuts, pumpkin, green banana and millet by making flour,” he said.
To start them off, Mutuanga said they got training from the Agricultural Technology Development Centre in Ruiru, Kiambu county.
“We were trained on value addition on some of these products to not only reduce post-harvest losses but also to increase the shelf life of the produce," he said.
Mutuanga said they buy green bananas from farmers at Sh15 per kilo before preparing them and processing the flour.
From the farm, the bananas are weighed, washed and then the tips are removed before they are sliced. Slicing makes it easier to dry the bananas.
“After slicing, you dry them for about eight hours. You can dry 200 to 1,000 kilos of bananas depending on the size of the solar drier. The bigger the solar drier the more bananas you can dry,” he added.
Before milling the bananas, you have to ensure they have dried and attained the right moisture content of 11 per cent.
Mutuanga said they were trained by the Ministry of Health on the importance of ensuring that the moisture content is right to avoid contamination.
“We were trained on the Hazard Critical Control Points, which ensures cleanliness of the final product. The moisture level should be right to avoid aflatoxin and any other food contamination. We also ensure the right packaging to increase the shelf life of the produce to about eight months,” Mutuanga said.
He said currently they are selling their produce to the local market with a kilo of the whole green banana flour selling at Sh1,000 while a 500g package selling at Sh500.
Mutuanga pointed out that marketing is still a challenge and they market their produce in agricultural exhibitions and conferences.
“We are keen on offering a better ready market for the farmers but to do this, we are seeking support to get bigger solar driers and also establish an aggregation centre for farmers to sell their produce,” he added.
The group is currently showcasing the value-added produce at the ongoing African Conference on Agricultural Technologies at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi. ACAT is being held at a time when the African continent is still struggling to feed its people.
