Meru County Government through the Department of Agriculture will continue to support avocado farmers through training, provision of seedlings and marketing for the commodity among others.

Speaking during Meru County Avocado Stakeholders Forum, CEC in charge of Agriculture Madam Carol Mutiga said that the County Government is committed to support avocado farmers to increase production and profits.

"The Governor wants to increase avocado production in the County to maximize profits for farmers, and we are focused on achieving his dream and vision to Make Meru Great, by training the farmers on production methods, giving them quality seedlings and even establishing a nursery that will see them get seedlings at an affordable price," Mutiga noted.

The CEC added that so far the Department has distributed over 150,000 avocado seedlings to farmers and the effect is visible on the ground, saying that in the recent past Meru avocado have had very high demand both locally and internationally.

On her part Chief Officer in charge of Agriculture Dionisia M’Iruaki urged avocado farmers to unite and form associations that will help them advocate for their grievances such as better prices for their produce.

Major (rtd) Gideon Gitonga a farmer from Imenti cen Central thanked the County Government for organizing the sensitization programs saying that as avocado farmers they have learnt a lot from them.

"I started growing avocado since the year 2012 and I can tell you that avocado farming has a lot of profit since it has the ready market, the good thing is that for the last few years even their prices have increased, we can even dictate the price to the farmers," Gitonga added.