By Emanuel Tarus, DevReporter Trans Nzoia County
Over the years, Trans Nzoia County has been known as the country’s food basket due to its potential of producing over six million bags of maize per year in over 100,000 hectares of land.
But the reputation of the County is slowly fading away as the introduction of other crops is reducing the number of acreage under maize farming.
The Trans Nzoia County government has started a transformative agenda of promoting crop diversification. Avocado, a high-value crop, is one of the crops that are being promoted.
Fredrick Rono, a former large-scale farmer in Makunga area of Kiminini constituency ditched commercial maize farming in 2018 to focus on avocado farming. Rono has planted over 120 avocado trees where 70 of them are mature and ready for harvesting.
Rono was initially reluctant to adopt the new venture of growing avocados. He was however inspired when he, together with other famers from Trans Nzoia, toured Kiambu County for benchmarking on crop diversification. Thereafter, he bought subsidised avocado seedlings from the County government of Trans Nzoia.
“I can assure you it was not easy to accept to plant avocados in my farm because I did not know that it was such a profitable crop. It was until we toured Kiambu County that I changed my mind and started off with 20 trees of avocado. Currently, I have over 120 trees and I am enjoying the fruits,” Rono said.
He has so far earned Kshs 100,000 from the avocados that he harvested last year. The earning is four times more than what he could gotten in the past per year, from planting maize in one acre. Rono now targets to have another acre of land under avocado.
“I have reduced the acreage under maize and concentrated on avocado because it pays well and the cost of production is way below that of maize. Avocado is the green cold. Our farmers should think positively about avocado farming,” Rono said.
Government support
Although farmers in the area are not fully convinced on the viability of avocado, about 10,000 farmers have already adopted the crop since its introduction in Trans Nzoia County in 2015. Agriculture Cabinet Executive Committee Member in Trans Nzoia County government, Ms Mary Nzomo, said the farmers are now reaping the benefits. So far, the county has distributed 150,000 avocado seedlings to the farmers.
“As a county government, we have subsidised the cost of avocado seedlings considerably as well as for other crops that we are promoting. Those who adopted the crop in 2015 are now enjoying the returns of the avocado crop,” she stated.
Ms Nzomo said that the county is working with investors to set up an avocado factory in the area for value addition. She added that the factory will create employment for the youth and boost the economy of Trans Nzoia when completed.
“We are ready as the department of agriculture to support our farmers by providing extension services on agronomical practices of this crop so that our farmers can produce quality yields. With sufficient volumes, we are able to attract processors who can help add value to our avocado, which will in turn boost our economy.”
CropNuts organisation reports that Kenya is the sixth producer of avocado in the world and the demand for the crop is higher than production. Farmers should venture into avocado farming because there is a ready market both locally and internationally.
Avocado health benefits
Besides its economic benefits, the fruit has several health benefits. For instance, Milcah Rotich, a nutritionist, says research findings indicate that avocados are high in monounsaturated fats, which help to protect against heart disease and lower blood pressure. She adds that avocado is also an excellent source of potassium and fibre, all of which benefit the heart and the cardiovascular system.
