KEPHIS donates pest control technologies to Makueni County for fruit fly management
KENYA – Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), a parastatal whose responsibility is to assure the quality of agricultural inputs and produce, has donated pest control technologies to Makueni County to help help small-scale mango farmers to effectively manage fruit fly infestations.
The donation includes 1,800 pheromone lures to eliminate Oriental fruit flies, 1,000 protein baits, 900 solarization bags, and 45 augmentorium pit covers to promote better farm sanitation.
These advanced pest control tools are designed to tackle the challenges of pests in mango farming, ensuring compliance with export market standards and improving the competitiveness and credibility of Makueni’s mango products.
This initiative will help restore the confidence of international buyers in the county’s produce. Agriculture CECM Joyce Mutua appreciated KEPHIS and affirmed that her department would ensure the technologies are distributed efficiently and used properly by farmers to maximize their impact.
The county government has largely been active in capacity building and boosting its farmers in quality production.
In August, the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Cooperative Development has launched a two-day training workshop specifically tailored for lead poultry farmers.
The workshop was designed to equip these farmers with practical skills and knowledge aimed at enhancing poultry production.
The training covered essential topics such as poultry disease management, housing, incubation, and hatching, all of which are critical to successful poultry farming.
During the workshop, Chief Officer for Livestock, Fisheries, and Cooperatives Development, Japtheth Kiminza, highlighted the importance of adopting the cooperative model across all agricultural value chains.
He emphasized that the National Agriculture Value Chain Development Program (NAVCDP) supports this model, which allows farmers to pool resources, reduce costs, increase bargaining power, and improve access to markets, training, and other vital services.
In that particular month, the Ministry of Trade and Investment, through the Warehouse Receipt System Council-Kenya (WRS), embarked on a pre-inspection exercise of warehouses across county.
The initiative was designed to support local grain farmers by ensuring that storage facilities meet the necessary standards for accreditation.
The pre-inspection exercise sought to assess whether the warehouses are equipped to store grain under optimal conditions, a critical factor in securing WRS accreditation.
Dr. Sonia Nzilani said that establishing proper grain storage facilities is key to mitigating food security risks and stabilizing grain prices within the county.
In addition to the inspections, warehouse operators will receive training to enhance their understanding of storage requirements.
Warehouses that pass the inspection will receive accreditation certificates from the WRS Council. These accredited warehouses will then be authorized to issue legal documents to farmers, enabling them to use stored grain as collateral when seeking loans from financial institutions.