Kisii County to distribute 190,000 avocado seedlings to farmers

Hass Avocado Nursery at the Kisii Agricultural Training Centre. [Eric Abuga, Standard]

Wilfred Okari, the Chief Officer of the Agriculture Department said locals will buy the seedlings at Sh100 while those from outside will buy at Sh150.

Okari announced that farmers will visit the sub-county Agriculture offices and ward offices for registration. "The field officers will authenticate the locality of the applicant through the subsidised avocado seedling application form which has been developed," he said.

Kisii Agricultural Centre accounts clerk will confirm payment and provide an issue note to the farmer while the seedlings are delivered to the ward offices.

In June 2022, the county government and Avofresh Processors Limited signed an agreement for the installation of a plant at the Kisii Avocado Factory for processing of avocados and support farmers to get fair prices for The their produce.

Through the support of the UK Aid's Sustainable Economic Development Programme (SUED), the company and the county have established collection centres for avocados.

The firm will process up to 100 tonnes of avocados per day.

The project involves 269,683 farmers, 648 individuals in the collection and over 100 wholesalers in the avocado value chain.

Avocado farming in the Gusii region was previously done for subsistence purposes.

Currently, Kisii County has 34 wholesalers of avocados who export about 80 tonnes per day.

The factory is expected to process avocado oil that will be used for making cooking oil and cosmetics among other products.

Okari said the county is keen on improving the production of Hass variety of avocado to 70 per cent and has already distributed 300,000 seedlings to the farmers.