Agriculture
Kilifi County Government, has welcomed a transformative cocoa cultivation project initiated by Bear Machines East Africa (BMEA). The 21 billion investment aims to empower local farmers and significantly boost the county’s economy.
During a press briefing following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kilifi County Governor Gideon Mung’aro, BMEA Marketing Manager Anthony Mugwanja emphasized the untapped potential of cocoa as a cash crop in Kenya, comparing its limited cultivation with its widespread production in West Africa.
He noted that Kilifi would be the starting point for this initiative, with plans to expand to other parts of the country following successful implementation. “Kilifi County is the entry point for this project but we are envisaging that once we have success stories from Kilifi we shall roll out to other parts of the country. Infact we are targeting Busia County as our next location”, Mugwanja remarked.
The project, supported by the county’s Department of Agriculture, will establish a nuclear farm and enhance local farmers’ adoption of new agricultural practices and technologies for cocoa cultivation.
“Once the farmers are on board and have been capacity built, sourcing of seedlings will begin and the farmers will be assisted. They will plant on their farms and we have assured them that we shall purchase all the cocoa that will be grown by the farmers for sustainability and maximum benefit of the whole community” Mugwanja added.
Kilifi County Governor Gideon Mung’aro (right) and Bear Machines East Africa CEO Gary Stubley signing a Memorandum of Understanding for the Cocoa Cultivation Project in Kilifi.
He further highlighted that the project will utilize advanced technologies to ensure success, including hybrid cocoa seeds resistant to pests and diseases, fully irrigated agriculture, bio-organic fertilizers for optimal yield, and state-of-the-art processing equipment to facilitate local value addition of cocoa.
He disclosed that the project is set to cover 30,000 acres in its first two years, with an expected yield of 1.5 metric tonnes per acre per year. Thus, if the initial phase proves successful, the project will expand to an additional 100,000 acres.
Mugwanja noted that this is BMEA’s second attempt to launch the project in Kilifi, following an initial effort in 2019 that was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. He expressed optimism about the project’s prospects, citing the global economy’s recovery from the pandemic’s effects.
Governor Mung’aro expressed strong support for the initiative, instructing the Department of Agriculture to form a technical team tasked with identifying beneficiary farmers and the most suitable locations for the model farm.He urged investors to focus on producing and processing cocoa within Kilifi, rather than exporting raw cocoa for value addition elsewhere.
“We have had investors come here to produce but export the products for processing in other countries, that’s why I’m urging Bear Machines to ensure they do value-addition here so as to upscale our employment opportunities”, Mung’aro explained.