Two Murang’a delegations are scheduled to leave the country to the United States American and china in search for avocado, coffee and tea markets.

One delegation led by Deputy Governor Stephen Munania will by the end of this week tour and meet investors in the United States negotiate deals for market for coffee and avocado produced in Murang’a.

Munania’s delegation is slated to hold meetings in Boston and Washington DC on Saturday and Sunday.

Governor Irungu Kang’ata on the other hand will lead another team to China from next week. Kang’ata has underscored the high-quality coffee produced in Kenya saying currently consumption of coffee by Chinese is on the rise, hence the need to tap into the expanding market.

The governor said representatives of farmers will accompany the county officials to meet possible buyers from the two countries.

“In China, we will search for a market for both avocado and coffee. Murang’a currently is leading in production of avocado in the country and getting direct markets for our farmers will bring increased returns,” he said.

He said China, with a population of 1.4 billion, is the second most populous nation globally and has recently started adopting the coffee taking culture. The high population, he added, may turn the country into one of the biggest coffee markets globally.

He noted that coffee, tea and avocado are main cash crops in the county with thousands of locals depending on them.

“Famers representatives in the delegation have been nominated by cooperative societies. They will help in getting the best markets from the two countries,” he pointed out.

The current main markets for Kenyan coffee include Belgium, the United States, Germany, South Korea, and Sweden among others, most of which buy the commodity through the Nairobi Coffee Exchange.

The governor underscored some measures his administration is implementing to increase coffee production saying the current price of coffee has increased in the last few years.

Kang’ata observed that in the past year, Murang’a lagged behind Kirinyaga, Nyeri, Kiambu and Bomet in coffee payments but that it has since risen to the second position after Kirinyaga.

“The county has also been leading in the tea sector and raked in Ksh17 billion ($131 million) in revenue last year while producing 33 percent of the avocados exported from the country,” he added.

Kang’ata further noted after the trip, the county government will hold an investment conference to bring together manufacturers and processors with the aim of showcasing investment opportunities available in the county.

“This conference will be held in June. We expect participants to include those engaged in value-addition of the various farm produce,” he said.

The governor urged farmers to increase production to earn more money from the efforts being put in place by both levels of governments to support them.

The county has an avocado farmers’ association that brings farmers together while the tea sector is managed by tea factories that contract KTDA as their management agency and the coffee sector is led through coffee co-operative societies.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Bernard Munyao

Governor Irungu Kang’ata addressing residents of Kangema during a past event