With perfect weather, we can make Kenya a fruit country

A fruit vendor in Kisii town. [File, Standard]

A visit to South Africa is incomplete without a visit to the wine region in Western Cape Province. The wine country is beautiful and green with well-laid-out vineyards.

In my last visit, I noted other fruits beyond grapes: pears, apricots, apples, plums, oranges, blueberries, strawberries and pomegranates, among others. These fruits are found in our leading supermarkets, well labelled as imports from South Africa. Curiously, these fruits grow in Kenya.

They are sold by the roadside near Limuru and in Nyandarua if you use the Njabini-Ol Kalou-Ndúndúri-Nakuru route. Add Laikipia, where I found a pomegranate. Grapes grow in Naivasha and Yatta in Machakos. Add Meru.

The marginal counties, as you shift from well-watered highlands, could become our Western Cape. 

South Africa‘s wine country closely resembles the Nyandarua-Laikipia area. No wonder so many Boers had settled there. They had a Dutch Reformed Church (sold to AIC), a cemetery nearby and Jan Van Riebeeck School (Ndururumo High School).

They grew wheat and did lots of dairying. I don’t recall any fruit farming in the colonial era. It’s possible they did not want to give South African farmers any competition. 

Fruit farming has been neglected in Kenya despite its great potential. We have perfect weather for fruits. Ever been to Ithanga, near Thika and seen oranges? Pomegranates grow like weeds around Nairobi.

Make money

Why has the Del Monte model not been replicated with other fruits? The tropical weather and almost Mediterranean climate in the mountains would make Kenya a fruit exporter.

But we are too obsessed with maize to make money from fruits. Check the price of imported fruits. Kenya is an agricultural country, data shows.

Agriculture or farming is a low-hanging fruit in our economic transformation. We should shift our attention to real fruits.  We have the perfect weather. But it seems for 60 years we just seen maize. 

That is why we should use many countries or even states as our benchmark in our quest to become a developed country. I got California in mind.

The State balances high tech represented by Silicon Valley with agriculture in Napa Valley, San Joaquin and other regions.  Fruit hawkers on our roadside should improve their livelihoods by gaining access to global supply chains. Can we help them? Fruits are a niche market, more so if organic with no pesticides. 

Can fruits get as much publicity as maize? In addition, fruits are a raw material for some alcoholic drinks. A good example, from plums, we get Slivovitz in Eastern Europe and Umeshu in Japan. Grow fruits? Talk to us.