Kirinyaga County Governor Anne Waiguru has enumerated a wide range of achievements made by her administration in developing the county and uplifting the lives of the people, key among them being the signing of a deal with an investor to establish a tomato processing factory.
While delivering the state-of-the-county address at the Kirinyaga County Assembly on Thursday, Waiguru said her “Mountain Cities Blueprint” dream was becoming a reality and that the county had grown in all spheres.
She cited the establishment of the Sagana Industrial Park, the opening of the Kerugoya Level Five Hospital, the construction and equipping of 20 dispensaries, laying of over 50 square meters of cabro in all major towns, the construction of a fire station, and supplying residents with domestic and irrigation water through 70 water projects. Others include the grading and murraming of 1000 kilometers of road, the construction of 21 markets, and the ongoing titling of land in 11 colonial villages to provide security of tenure to residents, as some of her achievements in the last year.
“Once fully operationalised, these factories at the Sagana Industrial Park have the potential to directly employ 4,000 youth, with a ripple effect of up to 10,000 employment opportunities,” Waiguru said.
She said that the support that her administration has been giving to farmers through the Wezesha Kirinyaga Programme has seen a steady increase in the production of various value chains such as tomatoes, rice, coffee, avocado, and dairy.
The governor said that the upcoming processing industries at Sagana Industrial Park will provide a much-needed market and bring in better earnings for the farming community.
“Our tomato production has continued to rise steadily from an annual production of 46,000 metric tons in 2017 to 116,000 metric tons in 2022, earning our farmers approximately Sh 6.9 billion annually. This has been achieved through a well-thought-out plan to support farmers’ capacity in production areas such as seedling propagation, switching to high-yielding tomato seedlings, which are also disease-tolerant, and investing in modern technologies such as greenhouse production and drip irrigation, among other water-saving technologies.” Said the governor.
The governor also led the county in signing a deal with an investor who will put up a tomato factory at the upcoming Sagana Industrial Park.
The investor, who is coming under the Sustainable Urban Economic Development (SUED) programme, will commence the process of setting up the factory immediately.
Waiguru said the factory will address the issue of post-harvest losses, the biggest challenge faced by tomato farmers, who have been losing up to 40% of their harvest. She said that since the factory will receive 100% of their produce, farmers will now have better returns.
She added that construction of the county seedling propagation unit located within Kangai ward is expected to be completed by the end of this financial year to support farmers in accessing affordable and quality seedlings in their backyards.
Waiguru said that through the Wezesha Kirinyaga program, the county is strategically positioning the county farmers as the number one suppliers of raw materials for upcoming processing industries in Sagana Industrial City. She said that more than 50,000 households have been supported by the programme so far.
She said that the Wezesha programme is Kirinyaga’s version of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
“Through the programme, we are empowering small-scale farmers to produce more and increase their earnings from agriculture, thus improving their standards of living. Through diversified agricultural activities, a farmer can at least earn up to Sh1,000 per day,” Said said.
She added that the county government has so far disbursed Sh380.2 million to support farmer groups and farmer cooperatives.
Apart from the tomato factory, Waiguru said that the county is in the process of formalizing agreements with other investors who will set up a multi-billion-dollar milk and meat processing factory, as well as coffee warehousing, in the Industrial City.
She said that out of 34 investors who had expressed interest in various investment opportunities within the Industrial City, 14 investors have been successfully evaluated in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ), out of whom seven are in assorted industries, one four-star hotel and spa, and six in County Aggregation and Industrial City (CAIP). Three investors have been evaluated for the Export Process Zone.
She confirmed that Kirinyaga County is one of the five that will benefit from Sh 1 billion from the National Government for the development of an export processing zone.
Waiguru said that through agricultural extension workers, the county government has been training farmers on high standards of production that will meet the requirements of the export markets.
She noted that once fully operationalised, the factories will create about 4,000 jobs, with a ripple effect of up to 10,000 employment opportunities.
To further support the Export Processing Zone and the County Aggregation and Industrial Parks, the county has constructed 15 fresh produce aggregation centers for farmers, with another three in the process of being constructed.
In the education sector, apart from constructing 28 and renovating 43 Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) classes, Waiguru said her administration is constructing an additional 10 classrooms and renovating five others in various wards.
The governor said a modern fire station at Kutus is also nearing completion to further improve the county’s capacity to respond to fire emergencies and secure the properties of its residents.
She said that so as to eliminate fraud and grabbing of public land, the county has also established a Geographical Information System (GIS) lab for digitizing all the land records. Use
“This will help to streamline operations and improve service delivery in our land department,” the Governor said.
By David Wandeto
