Description
The global growth in specialty oil seed exports and consumption has been 10% per annum for the last 10 years. Specialty oils are increasingly used in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications. Despite the global growth, Kenyan oil seed farmers and producers have not benefited from this growth potential. Among specialty oil seeds grown in Kenya are macadamia, cashew, sesame, baobab, avocado, shea, passion fruit and neem. Often the seeds are discarded or sold cheaply on the local market. The purpose of this project is to strengthen the Kenyan oilseed value chain. It will bring new Kenyan oilseed products to the market through enhanced and more efficient growing, collecting and processing capacity, thus opening new markets for Kenyan oilseed products. The result will be new sustainable agricultural value chains, improved farmer income and increased employment. This project will focus on the production of macadamia, cashew, sesame and baobab oil. By the close of the project new markets for these Kenyan products will be secured and long-term trade relationships established. A unique aspect of this project is the implementation of a management information system (MIS) which will improve farmer payment and manufacturing efficiencies. The long-term outcome of the project will be sustainable income improvements for more than 20,000 Kenyan oil seed farmers, which will alleviate chronic poverty in parts of rural Kenya.