Agriculture CS Willy Bett addressing the press in Eldoret town on Saturday September 30, 2017. [Photo: Elvanis Ronoh]
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Wily Bett has urged Kenyans to venture into avocado farming since there is high demand not only in Kenya but foreign countries.
He said there was ready market in Egypt, Netherlands, Arab Emirates, Spain Qatar, Germany, France and Europe.
“Farmers need to diversify and refrain from solely relying on wheat and maize which has poor production,” he said in Eldoret town, Saturday.
“I call upon farmers to embrace avocado farming to improve their earnings since their earnings compared to maize and wheat is high,” he added.
He, however, revealed that Kenya will soon resume its Sh120 million avocado to south Africa after seven years ban after it was found that our avocados were infested with fruit fly.
“The distribution of 1000 avocados to social Economic Empowerment Organization courtesy of Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS) will soon resume. KEPHIS has will ensure that Kenya complies with SA regulations,” noted Bett.
He called upon farmers to use mechanization for them to reduce the cost of production and increase their profits.