Kisii — The British High Commissioner to Kenya, Jane Marriott, and Kisii County Government have commissioned a 70-tonne avocado oil extraction project in Kisii County.
The newly commissioned factory will utilize avocado sourced locally from farmers to produce avocado oil mainly for the export market.
Speaking during the commissioning of the project in Kisii, the British High Commissioner in Kenya, H.E. Jane Marriott said, the commissioning of this facility is a demonstration that, by working in partnership, it is possible to come up with real opportunities and empower our people to cope with daily challenges.
The facility has a capacity to process up to 70 tonnes of avocadoes daily which will ripen for a period of 7-10 days before the extraction of the oil.
The oil will be used for making cooking oil and cosmetics among other products.
The extraction facility will provide opportunity for farmers access markets for their produce and reduce wastage witnessed previously experienced due to lack of available markets to sell all the produce hence most of that going bad resulting to post-harvest loss.
The extraction yield will range between 4-10 per cent depending on the varieties of fruits supplied as raw materials.
In addition to increasing farm yields, the project will also enhance the existing farmer co-operative societies by providing the necessary training and capacity building to farmers on better farming methods.
The investment project is a partnership between the UK Government and AvoFresh Processors Limited and has been implemented by the UK's Sustainable Urban Economic Development Programme (SUED) in collaboration with Kisii County. and Kisii Municipality.
Value addition
Kisii County governor Simba Arati said that his government has negotiated with investors to put up industries particularly in the area of value addition to local produce, as a means of improving earnings to farmers and creating employment.
"The avocado is cultivated in nearly every household in Kisii and it has contributed greatly in improving nutrition and poverty alleviation," he said.
He said his government continues to prioritize investment in programs that will transform the county into a middle-income economy.
The Governor said his government shall strive to create conducive environment for both local and foreign investors
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He pointed out that the county is keen on strengthening the avocado value chain saying that avocado farming was previously done for subsistence purposes and on a small scale.
The Governor noted they had registered the Kisii County Avocado Cooperative in all the sub counties to enable farmers address the possible challenges they experienced in their previous value chain such as getting rid of middlemen.
The governor expressed his gratitude to the farmers saying they are the producers of the fruit needed for the processing of the oil and therefore, they will receive the support they need.
Arati said that his administration will continue coming up with legislation geared towards creating an enabling environment for other investments.
Creation of employment
The Project Manager for AvoFresh David Gitonga said that over the past few months, they have been working closely with the County to actualize the processing facility by ensuring that farmers within the County are aware of the processing facility.
The UK Government support both technical and financial has enabled us to reach many more farmers by having in place logistical support to reach some of the hard to access farmers across the County.
" We are happy to see the facility work and serve the farmers as envisioned, "he said.
