Avocado farming if embraced by Kenyans can help boost the economy of Nakuru County as well as the nation.
Moses Gitonga from Morindat Ward in Gilgil who has embraced avocado farming says the agribusiness is paramount to the economy as he recommends ‘Hass variety’.
According to Gitonga, this type of avocado takes 3 years for one to start harvesting and has longer lifespan without getting spoiled.
“In every home in Nakuru you can’t miss the avocado tree and if we can embrace this agribusiness then our economy can improve especially with this species called Hass,” he said.
Gitonga says through partnership with Kakuzi Company Limited, farmers have been assisted to ensure they get the certified seedlings for the avocado farming.
Furthermore, the company has also assisted the farmers in ensuring their trees are not infected with any diseases during growth to boost production.
While citing the potentiality that Nakuru as a county has in terms of Agriculture, Gitonga called on the county Government of Nakuru to put in place policy mechanisms to ensure the water towers that surround the county are utilized.
According to him if this is put in place then shall the county have addressed the food insecurity challenge.
“Nakuru County has the potential since it is surrounded by water towers and if there were proper planning, the water can be harvested for agriculture use and we shall have plenty of food for consumption as well as sell to boost our economy,” he said.
Nakuru County is set to commence in Gilgil, Njoro, Molo, Bahati and Subukia sub-counties in which every ward will have 10,000 avocado seedlings from Kakuzi Company Limited.
Each farmer will have to pay 100 shillings per seedling where as the county government of Nakuru will cater for other expenses.
It should be noted that most of the Kenyan avocado farmers are found in Murang’a, Nyeri, Kiambu, Kisii, Meru and Mt Kenya avocado regions.
Kenya has witnessed a sharp increase in the number of countries interested in Kenya avocados, these counties are, Russia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, France, Spain, Iran, Libya, and Egypt among others.