Boost as Toyota Tsusho relocates its agricultural division to Nakuru

Guests view some of the CASE IH tractors at the newly opened Toyota Tsusho East Africa outlet in Nakuru. [ Kennedy Gachuhi, Standard]

Nakuru has continued to position itself as a key investment hub after Toyota Tsusho East Africa (TTEA) moved its agricultural division to the town.

TTEA General Manager Ian Allan said the relocation of the division from Nairobi was aimed at easing accessibility by the farmers in need for farm machinery, spare parts and servicing.

He the strategic location Nakuru town, which is set to attain city status, was key to the company’s clients. “Nakuru is centrally located in the country’s agricultural region where our services are most needed. As a result, we selected the town to host our agricultural division which was previously in Nairobi,” said Allan.

With a week after opening, the new offices have become a beehive of activity as farmers from neighbouring counties troop in.

Allan said the facility offers relief to farmers using the Toyota and Case International Harvesters (IH) farm machinery as they will no longer need to travel long distances to access them.

“Considering the country’s agricultural counties, Nakuru is on average three hours drive from most parts of the country where farmers are. This includes counties in the Rift Valley, Nyanza, Western and Central Kenya,” said Allan. The branch has been stocked with a full range of services and products depending on the scale of a farmer’s land.

“Apart from the spare parts and servicing, we have tractors of all sizes depending on the farmers’ needs. They range from 20 to 600 horsepower tractors. The most popular models are the 55 to 80 horsepower tractors,” he said.

Case IH Chairman Denis Awori said the move was in line with the company’s drive to expand its footprint in the agricultural sector. It is also in line with the government’s Food Security agenda.

Mr Awori noted that the Nakuru office technical staff will advise farmers and equipment operators on proper practices that will see them reduce overhead costs in their operations. The company is working closely with local financial institutions to enable farmers access credit for buying the machinery