The state-owned Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA) has announced that the mango processing factory whose establishment started in 2018 is now operational.
The factory will be producing high-quality mango juice which is to be distributed in the Western and Rift Valley regions.
Earlier this month a pilot project was started and Sammy Naporos, managing director, has reported that 100,000 litres have been produced and distributed to supermarkets so far.
‘’We have already produced 100,000 litres of ready to drink mango this month. The new product is already on supermarket shelves. We will be officially launching the commercial production of Tot Mango Juice next month,’’ Sammy Naporos.
Sammy Naporos also added that this will help in resolving the cattle rustling problem in the region and also help in improving the livelihood of the people.
The factory will be processing tomatoes during the low mango seasons between April and August. However, measures like crushing enough mangoes during the harvest season have been put in place to maintain continuous production of the drink throughout the year.
Last year Edwin Seronei, Chief –officer for agriculture stated that out of the 50,000 tonnes of mangoes harvested every season about 34,000 tonnes reach the market as others rot.
The Kalamba Fruit Processing plant in Makueni which began by processing mango puree has resulted in value addition of mangoes from the county since it has been processing the fruit for 2 years now.
The Makueni Fruit Processing Plant is in talks with accreditation bodies to establish how fruits processed by the plant will access the European Union Market.
‘’We are interested in breaking into the EU market. We want to see how we can meet the harmonised EU rules and standards for us to tap this rich market,’’ said Prof Kibwana.
Makueni county eliminated the use of middle men to ensure that the farmer gets all the profit after concerns were raised about extortions and delay in payment. The Kerio region farmers have also lamented about exploitation by middle men due to lack of a processor and hopefully this will hopefully be sorted out by the administration.
