Pineapple farmers decry lack of market following increased dumping in Gatundu

Pineapple growers in various parts of Gatundu North and South constituencies in Kiambu county have decried failure to secure a market for their bumper harvest after cheaper pineapples flooded the market.

According to farmers, most of the pineapples are left to rot in gardens, as buyers, including brokers, have stopped buying from them owing to dumping.

It is reported that stolen pineapples from some of the large-scale producers are sold at throw-away prices in Machakos and Kiambu Counties where Gatundu farmers have been selling their produce thereby leaving them with no markets to sell the fruits.

Led by Mwala Mara, the farmers lamented that the prices of their pineapples have sharply declined, to their disadvantage, at times forcing them to sell them below their cost of production.

“The people who used to buy from us have stopped. The market is flooded with stolen pineapples which are giving us unfair competition. We are now selling locally at very low prices but most of the fruits are ending up rotting on the farm,” Mara said.

Out of desperation to find alternative markets, the farmers decried that unscrupulous businesspersons have taken advantage of the situation to buy the expensive fruits cheaply.

James Kavaiku, another farmer, regretted that brokers who have been buying from them are leaving the business after they also failed to get better markets for the produce.

For one pineapple fruit, the farmers revealed they used to sell at Ksh50, a price that has since reduced tremendously.

The farmers urged the government through the ministries of trade and agriculture to help farmers find better local and foreign markets for their produce.

“We are not making any profits anymore. Our fruits are rotting in the farm and this unfair competition brought about by thieves is killing our business. It’s time the government helps us get a solution to this,” Kavaiku said.

Most farmers in the two constituencies ventured into the then-lucrative pineapple farming after their hitherto tea business was infiltrated by cartels who mismanaged the sector forcing them to make poor returns.

The pineapple business, they say, is no longer tenable as their returns have drastically reduced.