Kirinyaga will enter into a Sh5 billion public private partnership to set up 10 industrial hubs for value addition of agricultural produce.

The county would provide land for the building of the parks while private developers meet facility and equipment costs.

Kirinyaga will pump in Sh 1 billion into the venture targeting farmer groups and cooperative societies.

“The final model will be that of the private sector running the parks while we manage production and supply as the county government.

The returns for the farmers will be 80 per cent and the 20 per cent will deducted and saved for their sacco,” said governor Anne Waiguru.

She said the model would guarantee farmers a stable and structured market, benchmark their returns at optimum as well as provide them saving for borrowing purposes.

Ms Waiguru said the projects would be fully implemented by the end of next year (2018(?).

Upon full implementation, the agricultural sector in the county is forecast to have annual gross returns of Sh 100 billion up from the current average of Sh 25 billion.

She said the project was ambitious but tenable since middlemen reap on average 40 per cent of returns from the farmers’ gross returns while wastage and swindling in the markets eat a further five per cent in the returns and price fluctuations reduce by another 20 per cent of farmer’s income.

Hiyo mbwa jo!