Kitui farmers have been urged to grow tomatoes and form cooperatives to prepare for processing of tomato paste and juice from paw paws, mangoes and passion fruit.
Chief Agriculture officer James Songolo told the Star the county has bought two machines for Sh23 million to produce paste and juice.
They are to be delivered in August.
Songolo said the aim is to end post-harvest losses and to support farmers.
He said the county will soon distribute tomato seedlings to farmers and urged them to form cooperatives.
Farmers will deliver their produce to be processed for what he called a small fee.
“The production lines will be purely for the benefit of the farmers and they will take the end product by themselves to the market or the county will source a market for them,” Songolo said.
Farmers in Miandi have urged the county to help them source for markets.
Farmer Jacob Mbiti, who works along Thunguthu River in Kyuso, said they are also struggling to get seedlings and insecticides. He asked the county to help.
Most farmers along the dry river bed had been growing chillies but stopped as Covid-19 had changed their line of farming after their pepper lacked market due the four-month-long ban on international flights for exports.
“Before the Covid-19 outbreak, we did not have a problem with a pepper market but we have been forced to switch to tomatoes,” farmer Jane Mumbe said.
She urged the government to help compensate farmers for their huge losses from growing chillies.