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Tana River County mango farmers have a reason to smile as the Coast Development Authority (CDA) plans to revive the integrated Galole fruit processing plant.
Addressing the Press In Hola, ADC General Manager, Mohamed Keinan, announced that the government had allocated 145 million shillings to revitalize the plant and increase its capacity to production
adding that the plant was fully automated.
"We are reorganizing not only the production capacity, but also the speed at which quality and quantity are achieved for better income," he said.
The plant is expected to produce 12,000 tons of pulp per year, compared to the old machines that produced only 2,880 tons per year.
Machines that initially operated two lines, one luscious and one juice line, will also be expanded to begin processing honey and
Dr. Keinan called on farmers to double the production of mangoes to support machines, stating that the equipment will require a lot of mangoes to crush.
He stated that the project had failed because of the manual nature of the machines which affected the quality and quantity of the products, consequently affecting the receipts due to inefficiencies
"The machines were not adapted to the enormous yield they provided and the amount of production and therefore we could not achieve the target income, keeping in mind that the plant always broke down and needed to be repaired ", explains he
But farmers told Dr. Keinan that despite the fact that the facility will be a boost for them, the ability to install is not enough to treat their yield
. Farmers, Mr. Khalif Bahola, a fruit grower cooperative representative, said their mango products are currently growing at 30,000 megatonnes a year, urging CDA to set up factories in the Tana Delta and North Tana. . He badured the authority that the plants would witness an overabundance.
"We feed businesses in Mombasa, Makueni and Nairobi counties, and we still have a lot of rotten products in our stores and farms, we challenge you to create two more companies and see what we can offer.
The mango processing plant was installed in 2014 to become a white elephant just after a year of operation. The plant has seen the production of exceptionally sweet juice that residents still testify to this day.
According to the governor of Tana River, Dhadho Godhana, the previous regime's policies and mismanagement were the main reasons for the plant's failure. 30,000 farmers remained at the mercy of exploitative middlemen, who bought their mangoes at Sh2 by fruit, sending the majority of farmers to sell street mangoes and juice mix.
With the current development, Lamu's 30,000 mangoes, Tana River and Kilifi districts will return to business
At least 2,000 farmers will be trained in good agricultural practices.
About 80 residents will benefit from direct employment, 25 permanent and 30 casual, while another 1,500
The project aims to strengthen rural and family economies, as well as that to improve the purchasing power of households.
The main product will be pulp, packe Especially for local and export markets
