Principal Secretary (PS) State Department for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) and Regional Development Idris Salim Dokota is now urging Mango farmers in Tana River County to stop selling the fruit produce to middlemen before maturity.
“Tana River farmers should wait for mangoes to mature and stop selling to brokers who offer instant cash, irrespective of whether the fruits have matured. This affects the quality of the pulp,” said Dokota.
He advised the farmers to wait for their mangoes to grow to maturity and sell to the Coast Development Authority (CDA) fruit processing plant for reasonable earnings.
He asked the farmers to maintain good quality products because quality is vital in local and international markets.
The PS further called upon the farmers to utilize the multi-million Galole Integrated Fruit Processing Factory set up by CDA.
Dokota says farmers should not allow the project which was first installed in 2014 to become a white elephant due to lack of business adding that the factory also sources mangoes from Lamu, Kilifi, Kwale, and Garissa counties.
The PS was accompanied by Coast Development Authority (CDA) Managing Director (MD) Dr. Mohamed Keinan while on a familiarization tour to assess the progress of the fruit facility and met local mango farmers.
Dokota said the plant was also expected to create employment among the locals but wondered how that would be possible if farmers continued to shy away from the factory.
He asked farmers in the region to grow enough mangoes to meet the market demand and cautioned them against exploitation by unscrupulous middlemen who buy the fruits at very low prices and go on to make exorbitant profits.
Dr. Keinan on the other hand said the factory can process 12 metric tonnes of mangoes into fruit juice per day adding that the facility is out to improve the farmers’ livelihoods.
He said the factory cannot rely on the Tana River alone for raw materials and that is why neighboring counties are encouraged to grow mango to meet the quality of raw materials the factory needs.
The CDA MD said the Galole facility has also been expanded to start processing pineapples and passion fruits and drinking water to keep it running to full capacity.