Busia County will be the second region in East Africa to grow organic cocoa.
Cocoa is the main cash crop in Ghana and Ivory Coast.
Kilimo Sasa Fund (KSF) was on Thursday given the green light to re-generate (climate smart) sustainable agriculture and organic cocoa farming in the County.
The project name is dubbed: Cocoa for New and Sustainable Livelihoods (CONSUL).
Busia joins Kilifi County, the only other region in the country where the Fund has been undertaken but on pilot basis.
Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the Fund to introduce the crop and bio-organic farming in the county.
KSF’s Board of Trustees chairman Gary Roy Stubley signed on behalf of the Fund.
He was accompanied by Director Levi Byamukama while the Chief Officer for Agriculture Ruth Mukhongo was the Governor’s witness.
Governor Ojaamong said the use of chemical fertilizers has striped soils of nutrients leading to low yields.
“Bio-organic fertilizer is the way to go; I welcome the promotion of organic fertilizer in the county since it minimizes desertification and global change,” he said.
Byamukama said Busia was picked for the pilot project because of its perfect climatic conditions required to grow cocoa.
“There is also need for an alternative cash crop to enhance the livelihoods of the people of Busia County,” he said.
Busia County covers slightly over 400,000 acres; Byamukama said they are targeting 25 per cent of the County to ensure not less than 50,000 tonnes of cocoa beans per crop; that’s a whooping USD 110 Million (Ksh.11 Billion) going to farmers pockets in one crop
Currently, in the world market, cocoa beans price is USD 2200/ Tonne (Ksh220/ kilogram).
The average yield of cocoa bushes is approximately 500kgs of beans per acre per year.