Industrial parks to revive manufacturing

Embu,

Friday, December 15, 2023

KNA by Steve Gatheru

The government is counting on the county aggregation and industrial parks to revive manufacturing which has been on the decline in recent years.

Investment, Trade, and Industry CS, Rebecca Miano, said the parks that are being established in every county are expected to serve as incubators for a new generation of manufacturers.

Speaking Thursday at Macang'a in Embu County where she laid the foundation stone of the Embu County Aggregation and Industrial Park (CAIP), Ms Miano said the CAIPs will be provided with machinery and other infrastructure that will enable the value addition for agricultural produce that farmers currently sell raw for very little value.

She said the CAIPs are expected to be a game changer for the way rural communities go about their businesses as they will enable the farmers to finally be rid of exploitative middlemen.

She said her Ministry will support the CAIPs by finding markets for the goods they produce, saying that the eventual goal is to improve farmers' incomes while creating jobs. The CAIP is to cost Sh 500 million.

Embu Governor, Cecily Mbarire, whose government is sharing the cost of putting up the CAIP with the National Government said the center will play a great role in improving returns from the macadamia, groundnuts, mango, avocado, green grams, honey, and tea, and coffee value chains.

She said to ensure that the CAIP is constantly supplied with raw materials, her government is reviving the moribund agricultural extension services to help farmers improve their efficiency.

She disclosed that farmers in the different value chains are being organized into co-operatives that will enable them to develop produce collection systems around the county.

She together with Mbeere South MP Nebert Muriuki said plans are at an advanced stage to start the implementation of the proposed Mbeere South Water Project which they said will enable farmers to produce high-value crops needed as raw materials in the CAIP.

They appealed to the National Government to allow local farmers to lease the huge tracts of land held by the Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority (TARDA) for farming.

Courtesy; KNA