Mount Kenya banana farmers book gains as Twiga doubles prices for crop

Banana farming in Mt Kenya region has received a huge boost after Twiga Foods raised prices by about two times. Farmers have had to contend with unstable prices from middlemen who at times pay as little as Sh8 for a kilo. Twiga Foods has set the price at Sh17.

According to CEO Grant Brooke, the company will play the role of a super broker in linking the farmers with the market.

“Ours is to guarantee farmers a ready market and they guarantee us a sustainable production. We will organise the farmers into producer groups and our field officers will be visiting them in their shambas to keep tabs on their production efforts,” he said.

“We know for them to be kept empowered to produce, we must endeavour to review our base rates from time to time and be paying them immediately after collecting their harvests.” Twiga Foods entry into the agribusiness industry will come with benefits for the farmers, the CEO said.

“We will introduce liquidation terms in win-win partnerships,” he said. Under the model the firm provides a market as well as supplier for retail outlets, including kiosks and market stalls in Africa.

“The company enables vendors to order bananas using its online platform. We have been dealing in horticulture products, mostly pineapples, tomatoes, potatoes, onions and bananas. We are expanding,” he said.

Mt Kenya field officer Joseph Njuguna says Twiga Foods has partnered with IBM Research to extend access to microloans to 220 food stall retailers across Kenya using a blockchain-based financing system.