Incorporation of groundnuts and cashew nuts
The company is currently sourcing macadamia nuts from smallholder farmers in Tharaka Nithi and Meru Counties. Further, and in the partnership with 2SCALE, Batian hopes to replicate its successful approach and venture into other products such as groundnuts and cashew nuts in the near future. The company has since acquired land to set up a peanut processing plant which is expected to be completed and operational by the end of 2020.
Mr. Mukora, who is formerly of Afrimac (a sister company to Batian) explained that the main drive behind Batian was the need to provide affordable, aflatoxin-free fortified groundnuts products like energy-dense, micronutrient enhanced pastes. This, he explained, would go a long way towards eradicating the major pain point of groundnut smallholder farmers which is centered around contamination by aflatoxins. This renders the groundnuts unmarketable, causing huge losses to the farmers.Aflatoxin contamination can occur in the field before harvest, and after harvest during curing, storage and transportation.
However, as Mr. Mukora explains, the farmers’ lack of know-how during harvesting is the main issue. This is because ideally, aflatoxin production begins in the soil. As such, when harvesting, the farmers need to ensure that the groundnut pods are completely soil-free.
Challenges faced thus far
This also ties into the fact that Batian Nuts is facing the challenge of sourcing aflatoxin-free groundnuts. Additionally, Mr. Mukora said that the acquisition of cashew tree seedlings is proving to be difficult. Currently, they have tried getting scions from Mtwapa. The logistical challenges have acted as an impediment to their setting up of a cashew nut tree nursery. Nonetheless, Mr. Mukora has said that the plan is still on course.
Ms. WInnie Naisiai, the quality control officer also mentioned that most of the sorting of the macadamia nuts is done by hand. This, she explained, would compromise the quality of the output. She further suggested that the automation of the sorting process would be a good solution.
For the next planting season that is set to begin later on this year, Mr. Mukora said that they will be piloting the growth of a new macadamia variety from Egerton University- one of the partnership actors. This, he explained, is because the new variety has increased quantity per acre. He also gave a projection of an increase in this year’s purchases from 2019. The introduction of groundnuts in their production is set to increase their production cycle. This will not only provide regular employment for more than 70 seasonal employees but will also keep the factory running all year round!