Murang’a Governor Mwangi wa Iria has lauded President Uhuru for striking a deal with Mauritius for the exportation of avocados to the Island nation.
The governor said the deal will go a long way in improving the lives of local farmers by expanding the fruit’s market.
Wa Iria said Murang’a is the largest avocado producer in the country, it accounts for about 60 per cent of all fruits produced locally.
On Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monicah Juma announced that the President had sealed the deal that would also give locally produced baby carrot and broccoli access to the Mauritian market.
With such a diverse market, he said, avocado prices are bound to go up and increase foreign exchange earnings. Kenya is set to overtake South Africa in both production and exportation of the fruit.
The Murang'a government brokered a deal between farmers and Kakuzi fruits processing company that would guarantee a market for the produce and improve earnings.
The county is set to distribute 500,000 Hass avocado seedlings to small-scale farmers this year.
The seedlings distribution programme was started in 2017, with the county government announcing that one avocado tree could produce 1,000 fruits per year.
The same year, Murang'a farmers sold Sh2 billion avocados to fruit processing companies. The highest paying avocado fetched Sh35 per fruit while the lowest received Sh19 each.
The governor outlawed avocados middlemen in the county, saying that anyone buying the fruits from farmers would be required to have a letter from the county government.
Edited by Pamela Wanambisi
