The University of Nairobi (UON) has launched the Fresh Produce Aggregation & Distribution Hub which will offer cold storage solutions and better market linkage to smallholder indigenous vegetable and fruit farmers.
The 85 square meter facility at the University’s Kabete campus has a six-ton capacity cold room and will benefit over 150 farmers mainly from Kisii and Kakamega counties.
The project’s lead, Jane Ambuko– Professor of Horticulture at UoN– said that all produce from the facility will be KS1758 certified. This is the mark of quality for locally traded horticultural produce that proves the quality and efficacy of domestically consumed vegetables and fruits.
“The produce from farmers and the university farm will be packaged with a KS1758 mark of quality which will be enforced through tracking the origins of all our produce. We will guarantee that none of our vegetables are grown with sewer water,” she quipped.
The facility will receive high-quality, safe, and traceable produce from smallholder farmers across Kenya which will be placed at the facility’s display and sales area for customers. If it is not sold it will be placed in its temporary storage area before being moved to the cold storage facility avoiding any produce spoilage.
The facility was built at a cost of Sh10 through an academia-industry partnership between the University of Nairobi, Mabaiti Rolling Mills (MRM) in collaboration with the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) supported by Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture.
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