The Procurement problems of the Passion fruit industry of Kenya

Abstract

The underlying causes of procurement problems of the passion fruit industry are investigated. The background of passion fruit production and marketing is examined, including the history of the Kenyan industry. The review of literature indicates that only limited studies of the economic aspects of passion fruit production in general have been published and studies specifically on the Kenyan industry are very rare. Reports by Lippmann, on Kenyan cultivation., contain important experimental information which is particularly relevant to the industry's production, marketing and procurement problems. The study objectives included finding out why Kenyan farmers have not ,grown the quantities of fruit for which the Thika processing plant, established in 1971 with a fresh fruit capacity of 14,000 tons per annum, was designed; how farmers could be persuaded to grow more fruit; to identify and examine production constraints; and, lastly, to offer some solutions to these problems. The production and marketing system of passion. fruit processed by the Kenya Fruit Processors Ltd (K.F) is studied. The services provided by the K.F.P, the area under cultivation and the number of farmers registered with the K.F.P., are also discussed...