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NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Nairobian

Twiga Foods in Sh23m plan to test fruits, vegetables

Smart Harvest

By Moses Omusolo | Sep 24, 2018

Agricultural supply platform, Twiga Foods, has announced plans to set up facilities to test fruits and vegetables for pesticide residues to ensure consumers safety.

Under the Sh23 million plan, Twiga will become the first domestic company to regularly test maximum residue levels.

The periodic testing of produce is meant to address consumer concerns over contamination of agricultural produce with agrochemicals.

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On average, Twiga handles 130 tonnes of produce daily. The firm said in a statement besides testing samples of produce for pesticide residues, farmers will also be trained on the safe use of agrochemicals.

Chief Operating Officer Kikonde Mwatela said this would ensure the highest standards of food safety are maintained from the farm to the dinner table.

“We are proactively and voluntarily introducing standards in the domestic market for agricultural produce comparable to those in the export market. Twiga Foods is committed to ensuring the highest quality is delivered to consumers, even as we maintain access to reliable markets by farmers and efficiently delivery produce to vendors,” said Mwatela.

Transparent pricing

The initiative is in partnership with Agriculture and Food Authority and Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation.

Established in 2014, Twiga works to address gaps in the market of agricultural produce by providing an efficient marketplace. The technology-based platform sources fruits and vegetables from 8,370 farmers across 20 counties and delivers directly to 5,226 vendors across Nairobi and its environs.

While farmers enjoy guaranteed markets, transparent pricing and advice from the firm, vendors get fair prices, free delivery and quality produce whose safety is assured and can be easily traced.
“Kenya loses up to 30 per cent of agricultural to post-harvest losses between the farm and the market,” said Mr Mwatela. The food safety initiative follows the recent signing of a $5 million (Sh500 million) letter of commitment in financing from the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation to expand Twiga’s distribution network.

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