Kenya: Kisii farmers lose hope in growing bananas for profit as factory fails to take off

At the onset of devolution, the Kisii County government announced plans for a major project to improve the production of bananas, adding value to them and ensuring farmers benefit. But, almost a decade later, the project has not taken off, leaving farmers who embraced the crop with hopes of benefiting from it in a dilemma. Alloys Obwoge is one such farmer. He says he cut down most of his banana plants on his small farm in Bobaracho village after failing to get returns from them. "We only plant for our own consumption now," said Mr Obwoge, who is among thousands of residents who have lost hope in commercial banana growing. Mr Obwoge says middlemen take advantage of lack of a ready market and dictate prices to them. "We end up selling our bananas at very low prices. We have no bargaining power." Main food crop Banana is the main food crop in Kisii, which is the leading producer in Kenya. The area under bananas in Kisii is slightly above 6,350ha, with an average production of 56 ...