NAIROBI, Kenya, May 20 – Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has reiterated that the Kenya Kwanza Administration will fulfil its manifesto, including the construction of County Aggregation and Industrial Parks in all the 47 counties.
Speaking on Monday when he inspected the Meru County Aggregation and Industrial Park in Buuri Constituency, Meru County, the DP said out of the 47 CAIPs, the government has identified 13 that will be completed before embarking on the remaining.
The DP said that the 13 CAIPs will be commissioned by the President before end of this year.
He said that the remaining CAIPS will kick off next year and will be completed by 2027.
He outlined the importance of the park, saying that the farmers have encountered losses in post harvest, storage, and low sale because of brokers.
“The CAIPS will be a big relief to farmers from brokers, post harvest, storage, and low sale losses,” he said.
The construction of (CAIPs) in each county is in line with the realisation of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Plan.
They are bieng jointly established in collaboration with the county governments and development partners, including the United Nation Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
For each CAIP, the national government has allocated Sh250 million, and the respective county government matches with another Sh250 million.
Each CAIP has aggregation centers and value addition sections to prevent post-harvest losses at the grassroots by receiving and storing all harvests, for leverage in bargaining for higher and predictable earnings for farmers and to encourage value addition to boost earnings.
The Meru CAIP is situated in Buuri Constituency.
The project is 85 per cent complete and was initiated in September 2023. It is expected to be complete by 30th June 2025.
It is worth Sh492 million and, upon completion, will create 700 direct jobs and over 100,000 indirect jobs, among other social economic impacts, to the entire Meru County and North Eastern Counties as target Markets owing to its positioning.
The park has one cold room that can store the perishable goods and products up to – 4°c.
It also has eight , four for value addition, and four for Aggregation.
