County bets on value addition to drive up agribusiness

Homa Bay County Chief Officer for Agriculture, Irrigation and Cooperatives Development Judith Ombok at the recent 8th Africa Agric Expo 2025 in Nairobi. [Nanjinia Wamuswa, Standard] A sizeable crowd mills around a huge banana at one of the stalls at the recent 8th Africa Agric Expo 2025, held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi. Named Ng'ombe, the banana is nearly the size of a cow, hence the curious crowd of onlookers and farmers eager to know more about the variety. Also, on showcase at the Homa Bay County stall are various other products, both raw and value-added, including pineapples, Bt cotton, groundnuts, peanut butter, sweet potatoes, rice, sorghum and edible oils from soya and sunflower. County Chief Officer for Agriculture, Irrigation and Cooperatives Development Judith Ombok revels in the county's rich agricultural heritage in the Nyanza region. "We are showcasing our priority value chains, starting with cotton and edible oils. In edible oils, we focus on groundnuts, sunflower, soya beans and oil palm," she explains. Ms Ombok is optimistic about forming strategic partnerships that will connect Homa Bay farmers to markets and potential investors. The two-day event themed "Unleashing the Potential of African Agribusiness" brought together leading agriculture enthusiasts, innovators and stakeholders. It provides a platform for networking, showcasing cutting-edge agricultural technologies and driving transformative growth in Kenya and Africa's agricultural sector. According to Ms Ombok, the county produces "some of the sweetest sweet potatoes" in the world. "The late Queen of England used to eat sweet potatoes from Homa Bay," she claims. Locally, the county is also a leader in sorghum production. "The Kenya National of Bureau Statistics (KNBS) report for 2023, released last year, the county ranked number one in sorghum, sweet potato and peanuts," says the county official. "A potential manufacturer has also noted that pineapples from the county are exceptionally sweet and of high quality." She explains that most of the value chains of the crops the county is prioritising have a significant deficit locally, yet Kenya spends billions of shillings on imports. The county is working to bridge these gaps, explains Ms Ombok. "When you seek to bridge the gap in food production, you will get markets," she says. In Kenya, the per capita consumption of edible oil is estimated to be 10-12kg per person with an estimated annual consumption of 680,000 metric tonnes. Kenya imports 95 per cent of its edible oil. However, with plans to distribute seeds to our farmers, the country expects its importation of the commodity to decrease to less than 50 per cent. In 2024, the area under oil crops in the country increased to 114,000 hectares, up from 60,000 hectares, in 2023. On average, Kenya produces about 150,000 metric tonnes of rice annually, while the country's consumption is one million metric tonnes. As a result, the country has been importing close to 80 per cent of rice. The area under rice production increased from 44,000 hectares last year to 50,000 hectares. This expansion will be reflected in the upcoming year's rice production. Ms Ombok says the county has put in place measures to boost food production by grouping farmers into farmer-producer organisations for each value chain. This makes it easier to provide extension services, training and any support farmers may need, all of which are channelled through these farmer groups. "The governor [Gladys Wanga] gave cotton seeds worth Sh27 million to our cotton cooperatives. We have also distributed sorghum and soya bean seeds, and we are currently working on giving maize seeds to the groups. This approach makes our work easier," she explains. Homa Bay has also adopted a system called the cluster system, to reach the most disadvantaged farmers. At the local level, farmers come together as a community or clan, discuss and identify who is most in need amongst themselves. If one has already benefitted from soya seeds, they agree to let another benefit from cotton seeds. This way, they ensure a balanced distribution of support within the community. The county provides tractors to farmers at subsidised rates to help them with land preparation. The county official reveals that Homa Bay is the only county with a functional climate centre. Every morning, farmers call the climate centre toll-free to receive weather information specific to their areas. This service helps farmers determine whether it will rain and when it is the best time to plant. "As a county, we are doing so well in the space in addressing climate change. In addition to this, we are also promoting climate-smart agriculture and climate-resilient value chains like cassava," she says. The county has also developed irrigation structures, which are currently 80 per cent complete. Once finished, these structures will enable the county to produce large quantities of crops under irrigation. In all the value chains, Ms Ombok explains the county plans to collaborate with farmers to create cottage industries, allowing them to add value to whatever they produce to earn more from their efforts. Although Homa Bay ranks number one in peanut production, farmers struggle with finding markets for their peanuts, with most local processors importing the raw material mostly from Malawi and Zambia. "We have held discussions with the manufacturers through the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, who say they import peanuts because the variety they prefer is not readily available in Kenya. Another challenge is the issue of aflatoxin," she says. The county has made significant strides in palm oil production. Already, the county government has registered 23,000 farmers interested in growing palm oil in about 28,000 acres of land.

County bets on value addition to drive up agribusiness

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County bets on value addition to drive up agribusiness

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