Mango farmers in Tana River County have a reason to smile as Coast Development Authority (CDA) plans to revive the Galole Integrated Fruit Processing Plant.
Addressing the Press in Hola, CDA Managing Director Mohamed Keinan said the government has allocated Sh145 million to revive the plant and expand its production capacity.
He said the plant, which was manually operated, will be fully automated, with plans underway to install bigger machines compared to the previous one.
"We are revamping not only production capacity but also the speed to achieve both quality and quantity for better revenues, "he said.
This is expected to see the plant produce 12,000 tonnes of pulp per year, compared to the earlier machines that produced a mere 2,880 tonnes annually.
The machines that initially operated two lines, a pulpier and a juice line, will also be expanded to start processing honey and pure drinking water.
MANGO PRODUCTION
Dr Keinan called on farmers to double mango production to sustain the machines, saying the equipment will require a lot of mangoes to crush.
He said the project failed due to the manual nature of machines which affected the quality and quantity of the products, consequently affecting revenue due to inefficiencies.
"The machines were not fit for the huge yield it was fed. This affected the quality and quantity of production and hence we could not meet the target revenues, bearing in mind that the plant always broke down and had to be repaired, " he explained.
But the farmers told Dr Keinan that despite the fact that the facility will be a boost for them, the capacity to be installed is not enough to process their yield.
Speaking on behalf of the farmers, Mr Khalif Bahola, a fruit farmers cooperative representative, said their mango produce currently stood at 30,000 megatonne per year, urging CDA to put up plants at the Tana Delta and Tana North as well. He assured the authority that the plants will witness a surfeit.
FEEDING COMPANIES
"We have been feeding companies in Mombasa County, Makueni and Nairobi, and we are still left with a lot of produce rotting in our stores and farms. We dare you to set up two more companies and see what we can offer," he said.
The mango processing plant was first installed in 2014 became a white elephant just after a year of operations. The plant saw production of exceptionally sweet juice that residents still testify to date.
According to Tana River Governor Dhadho Godhana, politics from the previous regime and mismanagement were the main reasons for the plant's failure.
The closure of the plant saw 30,000 farmers left at the mercy of exploitative middlemen, who bought their mangoes at Sh2 per fruit, sending a majority of the farmers to street mango vending and juice blending.
BACK TO BUSINESS
With the current development, the 30,000 mango farmers from Lamu, Tana River and Kilifi counties will be back to business.
At least 2,000 farmers are set to be trained on good agricultural practices.
About 80 residents will gain from direct employment, 25 as permanent staff and 30 casuals, while another 1,500 will be integrated indirectly.
The project is set to enhance the rural and family economies, as well as improve household purchasing power.
The main product will be pulp, packed especially for local and export markets.
