Sh20m plant a relief for soya farmers, traders

By Nick Oluoch

Migori,Kenya:They believe price of produce will increase as they can now meet 200,000 tonnes per year demand

The rumble of the new processing plant has brought a shine on Mr Timon Owuor’s face. And he is not alone.

Menial grinding of soya beans has been an uphill task for Migori County farmers who have also been forced to sell their products through brokers.

But Owuor, who has been growing the plant on half an acre of land in Nyabisawa, Suna West constituency, is now talking big. He plans to increase his production by another acre to ensure that he fully benefits from a Sh20 million processing plant set to bring to an end to the challenges as farmers grapple with markets for the ready products.

 “We are positive that the prices will definitely go up and that is good for us farmers. This will also offer?employment for those directly working at the firm, and indirectly through selling soya products processed within the plant,” he says.

The plant aimed at setting a milestone in the area’s economic development as more farmers spare extra pieces of their land to grow the crop, has been set up by the Ministry of Industrialisation in conjunction with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

It is in this area that soya beans have for generations been treated as minor crops and grown only in small parcels of land as sugarcane, tobacco and maize are grown on a large scale.

Speaking in Migori County during the launch of the plant, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industrialisation, Dr Cyrus Njiru said the program is designed to provide a link between crop production and product processing.

Import deficit

“We have decided to go past the planting of soya and are looking at value addition to the already produced soya. The Government decided to initiate the program in Migori town after realising that the county has very high soya production,” he said.

The annual demand for soya beans is between 150,000 tonnes to 200,000 tonnes which is against a local production of 5,000 tonnes leading to import of the deficit.

“The market here is still immense and the farmers will be having ready market waiting for them,” he said.

Soya is also be used to produce cooking oil and animal feed, something that the farmers have so far not been able to take advantage of due to the lack of the plant.

And according to the PS, the country’s current import bill for vegetable oil is about Sh14 billion, a figure he said can be saved locally if more farmers ventured into soya farming.

And the machine has already brought a lot of excitement among the soya farmers in the county.

Kenya Soya Beans Farmers Association chairman George Kivandah said the plant will greatly improve the area’s economy.

The machine, which is situated within Migori town will have a capacity to crash and produce 12 metric tonnes of soya beans in a month.

Maximise profits

Traders in soya products are also planning to maximise their profits, thanks to the installment of the machine.

Ms Alice Achieng Obare, a small-scale dealer in soya products, said the processing plant will be key to unlocking the sector which she believe is still lagging behind but can do much better. “I believe that with the plant here, we will be able to acquire a variety of processed soya products for our businesses,” she says.

 Her ever busy shop, known as Upesi, located in the outskirts of Migori town in Oruba Estate exclusively sells soya products such as milk, cookies, cakes, mandazi, chapati, and bread.

Poor prices

The plant, which is funded by UNIDO and which is the first one of its kind in the region, will now see farmers from the region deliver their produce at the firm for processing as opposed to selling them through brokers, something which has frequently been blamed for poor prices.

And according to the PS, who was accompanied by the Japanese Ambassador Toshihisa Takata and UNIDO Country Representative Mpoko Bokanga if the Migori project succeeds, it will be?rolled out across the country.

He also cited trade regulations under the EUROGAP protocol which requires that meat, pork and eggs exported to the European Union markets has to be from animals not fed with animal fats, making soya beans the ideal food to use as animals and bird feed natural substance.