Bread, crisps, jam and scones; things we make from bananas

Roselyne Abakalwa of the Khwisero Banana Processing Plant Co-operative labels packaged banana bread at their firm in Khwisero. The society has specialised in adding value to bananas, with flour and crisps, among others, being the end products. PHOTO | ISAAC WALE | NMG

What you need to know:

  • They source their bananas for processing from their members, who mainly grow Williams and PHIA 17 varieties.
  • It takes about four days for banana chips to be fully dry. They are then milled into flour, with a kilo going for Sh200 each.
  • The society processes about 400kg of bananas daily. In a good month, the plant makes sales of Sh240,000 from the banana value added products.
  • Prof Martin Banda, the Director of Research and Production at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, says farmers going into value addition need a proper plan.

A short distance from Khwisero Centre in Kakamega County stands a 40m by 25m building, which hosts Kebuk Multi-purpose Co-operative Society.

The society has specialised in adding value to bananas, with flour and crisps, among others, being the end products.

Roseline Abakalwa, the food production manager at the Khwisero Food Processing Ltd run by the society, says Kebuk comprises of some 130 members, who initially belonged to two community based organisations that merged.

“To be a member, one must have at least 20 stems of bananas, but there are members with tens of acres of bananas,” says Abakalwa, noting they also process sweet potatoes.

The group learnt the value addition skills from the Kenya Industrial Research Development Institute (Kirdi). Kirdi later linked them with Kenya Bureau of Standards for quality mark as well as technical support.

“But before starting the value addition, we visited a banana processing plant in Kisii, where we further picked practical skills,” says Abakalwa, noting they received Sh7.4 million in 2014 from the National Government Affirmative Action fund.

They source their bananas for processing from their members, who mainly grow Williams and PHIA 17 varieties.

“We buy a kilo at Sh14 from farmers. The value addition process begins with weighing, sorting and grading. We then peel and wash the bananas before we feed into machine to be sliced into smaller chunks,” says Abraham Kutswa, the chairman of the processing plant. The sliced bananas are later fried to make crisps or dried and milled into flour.

“We deep fry them in hot oil, cool and pack in 30g sachets, which go for Sh20 each,” says Kutswa. The chips are dried at a solar dryer that resembles a greenhouse structure.

It takes about four days for the chips to be fully dry. They are then milled into flour, with a kilo going for Sh200 each.
Joseph Makomele, a farmer at Khwisero, says market for his bananas is no longer an issue.

HAVE A YEAR PLANTING SCHEME

“For the past five years, I have been supplying the co-operative at least one tonne of bananas after every two months. Before, we were at the mercy of exploitative middlemen,” says Mr Makomele.

The banana flour is normally mixed with wheat flour and other ingredients to make bread, scones and mandazis. They also make jam from the fruit.

Abraham Kutswa of Khwisero Banana Processing Plant Co-operative displays bunches of bananas at their establishment in Kakamega County. The establishment processes about 400kg of bananas daily. PHOTO | ISAAC WALE | NMG

A 400g bread goes for Sh45, a pack of 20 mandazis at Sh80 while a pack of scones cost Sh60. Their major market is learning institutions and retail shops in Khwisero.

“The community has embraced our products because they are natural and nutritious,” says Abakalwa.

The society processes about 400kg of bananas daily. In a good month, the plant makes sales of Sh240,000 from the banana value added products.

Kutswa says they have been ploughing their profits back into the business. However, this year they plan to declare dividends and divide shares among members.

Prof Martin Banda, the Director of Research and Production at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, says farmers going into value addition need a proper plan.

“The plan should cover where they will get constant supply of raw materials to keep the plant running. They need to create capacity for the raw materials,” says Prof Banda.

He advises farmers to have a year planting scheme before going into value addition to ensure there is enough raw material.