It’s a new dawn for avocado farmers in Nandi County as Nandi Avocado Farmers’ Cooperative Society (NAFCS) starts direct exports of avocados to Belgium and the Netherlands.
On Sunday, the society airlifted 700 kilograms of avocado samples to these two European markets. This milestone follows the licensing of NAFCS by the Horticultural Crops Directorate (HCD) on July 10, 2024, and the near completion of the Avocado Processing Facility in Lessos, Nandi Hills, which the county government says gives the cooperative a competitive edge over other regional exporters.
“Having supported the Nandi Avocado Farmers Cooperative Society with capacity building and certified seeds distribution, I am pleased to see the significant milestones we have achieved in the sector. For a long time, our small-scale avocado farmers have struggled to access markets individually. However it’s a new dawn for avocado farmers in our County after the Nandi Avocado Farmers’ Cooperative Society (NAFCS) got a license to start direct exports. Our first consignment of avocado export goes to Belgium and the Netherlands,” says Nandi Governor Stephen Sang.
The Governor adds that the avocado aggregation pack house facility in Lessos will go a long way in facilitating their access to these and many more external markets for avocados. It has a capacity to aggregate and store 22 tonnes of avocados per day. Once the facility is complete and fully operational, he says avocado farmers in Nandi will minimize post-harvest losses, aggregate and access the huge potential in the export market, thus attracting better prices and taking advantage of economies of scale.
The County government of Nandi is encouraging more farmers to embrace the avocado value chain saying it has a huge potential to increase household income and transform livelihoods.
