Passion fruit farming gets a shot in the arm

By Vitalis Kimutai

Production of fruits in East Africa is expected to rise after $11.5 million was pumped into the industry.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Coca Cola have injected more than $11.5 million to boost production of passion fruits in Kenya and Uganda.

The project aims at doubling income for farmers and increase revenue for regional processors through increased efficiency in the value chain, increased quality and quantity of fruit available and access to global markets.

The four-year programme dubbed Project Nurture, which started last year, has seen an increase in production of fruits in Rift Valley, Central and Eastern regions.

It is expected that the same project will be replicated in Eastern Uganda early next year.

Local communities are being sensitised on consumption of high nutritional value fruits, which is expected to increase the market for the fresh farm produce.

Two countries

Project Nurture is being implemented in Thika, Muranga, Kirinyaga, Gatundu, Imenti, Tigania, Igembe, Tharaka, Machakos, and Nandi.

Others are Tinderet, Keiyo, Eldoret, Wareng, Makueni, Mwala, Kathonzweni, Embu, Meru, Yatta and Masinga region.

Hillary Kinyua, the TechnoServe Deputy Regional Manager, East African Fruits Project says the project targets 54,000 farmers in the two countries.

“We are targeting 37,000 farmers in Kenya and 17,000 farmers in Uganda in our pilot phase,” Kinyua says.

He says there is a huge potential for export of fresh farm produce, both regionally and in the global market.

“Much as horticulture is a leading foreign exchange earner for Kenya, Chile earns the same amount by exporting only a single variety of fruit — Avocado,” Kinyua says.

The global market for fresh fruits is projected to grow by 2.7 per cent in 2012, while the processed fruit market growth is projected at five per cent.

At the same time, the consumption of processed fruits is expected to grow by six per cent in Sub Saharan Africa over the same period.

Like vegetables and flowers, regional and global demand for fruits often outstrips supply.

As a result, Kinyua says multinational beverage companies in the region have resorted to importing juice concentrates from South Africa, Egypt and India when Kenya has a tremendous potential to capitalise on the demand.

Besides increasing fruit supply, the initiative is aimed at introducing a business angle to fighting poverty, boosting food security and helping farmers gain competitive edge in a global business environment,” Kinyua says.

Business advisor

Mr Steven Otieno, a TechnoServe Senior business advisor says 21,000 tonnes of passion fruits produced in Nandi County were exported to Uganda recently — the largest export market for the produce.

According to Otieno, about 20 per cent of the passion fruit produce was consumed in the local market, and that there is need for more market linkages to help farmers get the right price for their crop.

“We are organising farmers into producer business groups and market service centres to improve their economies of scale, create supplier power, provide opportunities for hands-on-training and create direct linkages to markets to increase incomes across the value chain,” Otieno says.

He says growing poverty, prevalence of smallholder fruit farmers, suitability of the local climate, access to commercial infrastructure and markets informed the selection of the site of the project.

Mr George Otieno, a horticultural consultant says in the North Rift region, the yellow passion fruits could yield an average of 40 tonnes an acre, while purple variety yields up to 18 tonnes.

In response to the high passion fruit demand, the Academic Model for Prevention and Treatment of HIV/Aids (Ampath) satellite base run by Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), Eldoret, has put up a major passion fruit nursery.

The Green Worlds Nurseries at the facility produces seedlings sold to farmers and people living with HIV/Aids in the North Rift region.

Ampath is the largest ARV giving centre in East and Central Africa with a client base of 140,000 attended to a month.

Besides free medical care, Ampath also provides free highly nutritious food rations including fruits to people living with HIV/Aids.

The Green Worlds Nurseries was started on April last year and has so far sold 150,000 seedlings. It projects to sell 200,000 seedlings between now and June next year.

A total of Sh800,000 was injected as capital into the project but it is projected that its value would have risen to Sh6 million by the end of this year.

“Grafted seedlings sells for Sh40 a piece and it takes four and a half months to mature in the seed bed with a further shelf life of two months,” says John Mahugu, an Agricultural Specialist with Green Worlds Nurseries.

Mahugu says between 660 and 720 seedlings are enough to cover an acre of land with an average of 1.5 to 2.1kg produced per week per plant during peak season.

Once transplanted from the nursery, the crop can be productive for between four to six years depending on crop husbandry.

Magugu says farmers are particularly being encouraged to grow passion because of its nutritional value, high yields in a small area, does not need high technology to grow and that it was in high demand in South America.

Market demands

Ecuador and South America are some of the largest producers but cannot meet the ever-increasing market demands.

“In Africa, it is only in South, East Africa, and a section of the Mediterranean that support passion fruits growing,” Mahugu said.

Mr Sammy Mwaura, a passion fruits farmer in Eldoret’s Maili Nne area says he earns an average of Sh6,000 a week from 60 plants in his farm.

“I only have an eighth of an acre on which I planted passion fruits early this year,” Mwaura says.

“Initially, I used to earn between Sh3,000 and Sh3,600 a week but due to proper pruning, my earnings have doubled in the past few weeks.”

Mwaura has started a passion fruits nursery in the farm with a capacity for 20,000 seedlings, which he expects to sell to farmers in the region.

Many farmers have had their earnings boosted by investing in the fruits sector and many more are expected to come on board.