Banana farmers in Taita Taveta County in Kenya have asked the county government to speed up the completion of the Taveta banana factory.
Construction of the factory began in 2019 and was launched by the county government in partnership with the European Union (EU). The project seeks to strengthen the crop value chain under the Instruments for Devolution Advice and Support (Ideas-Kenya) programme.
According to the farmers the project construction works which is 80% complete has been on a slow pace since last year. The farmers have raised concerns over exploitation by middlemen and now want the county government to speed up the completion of the factory so that they get market for their produce.
Delay in completion
Steve Melanyi, a farmer said the delay in completion has left them at the mercy of middlemen who buy their bananas at poor prices. The brokers are buying a bunch of banana at Sh200, to later sell it at Sh600.
“It is a loss to us farmers. We hope that the factory will be completed soon to add value to our produce and avoid giveaway prices. We are also facing challenges finding market for our produce that sometimes rots in the farms for lack of buyers,” said Mr. Steve.
Upon completion, the Sh 116million factory is expected to and is expected to have the capacity to process eight tonnes of bananas per hour. This will help farmers get a stable market for their bananas. On their part, the County Executive for Agriculture Davis Mwangoma said that the factory will be operational by September this year. In addition, the department has laid down strategies to prepare farmers to supply the factory with the produce.
“The factory will provide direct and indirect job opportunities to over 38,000 people. Farmers will also receive capacity building training in order to produce high quality bananas. They will also be supplied with of high quality commercial banana variety suckers to enhance production,” said Mwangoma.
