By Emanuel Kipkorir Tarus, Development Reporter, Trans Nzoia County
Trans Nzoia County has for years been known as Kenya’s food basket due to its potential for producing over six million bags of maize per year in over 100,000 hectares of land.
But the name is slowly fading away. The introduction of other crops is steadily reducing the size of agricultural land under maize.
Trans Nzoia County government started a transformative agenda of promoting crop diversification such as planting of avocado, a high-value crop, in order to increase farmers’ profit margins and boost the economy of the agriculturally viable county.
https://www.kenyanews.go.ke/avocado-farmers-reap-big-on-export-market/
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 trees where 70 of them are mature and ready for harvesting.
Rono who was initially reluctant to adopt the new venture said that he was inspired when he, together with other farmers from Trans Nzoia, toured Kiambu County during a field day to benchmark on crop diversification. He then bought subsidised avocado seedlings from the County government of Trans Nzoia and embarked on avocado farming.
“I can assure you it was not easy to accept avocados in my farm. It was until we toured Kiambu County and got to know its profitability that I changed my mind and started with 20 trees,” Rono said.
Rono says that he has so far earned Ksh 100,000 from the avocados he harvested last year. The earnings from avocado are four times what he used to earn from maize farming in one acre per year. He 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 green cold, our farmers should think about avocado,” Rono said.
Government support
Ten thousand farmers have adopted the new crop since it was introduced in Trans Nzoia County in 2015, according to the Agriculture Cabinet Executive Committee Member in Trans Nzoia County government Mary Nzomo, adding that the farmers are now reaping benefits.
So far the County has distributed 150,000 subsidised avocado seedlings to farmers, according to the County official.
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 Trans Nzoia economy when completed.
“We are ready as a 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,” she added.
Related stories
https://www.k24tv.co.ke/business/rift-valley-farmers-abandon-maize-farming-shift-to-avocados-54411/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJif0WpgCtQ
Health benefits
Besides its economic benefits, the fruit has several health benefits. According to Milcah Rotich, a nutritionist, research findings indicate that avocados are high in monounsaturated fats, which help to protect against heart disease and low blood pressure. She added that avocado is also an excellent source of potassium and fibre, all of which benefit the heart and the cardiovascular system.
https://www.jpost.com/food-recipes/article-698658
https://scienceagri.com/10-worlds-biggest-avocado-producing-countries/
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