Let's convert coffee factories into avocado aggregation centers

Across the Eastern region, many coffee factories built decades ago now stand idle or grossly underutilized as coffee farming continues to decline in several areas. Meanwhile, avocado farming has emerged as one of the region's most promising cash crops, with rising local and export demand.

This newspaper proposes a practical solution: convert idle or underused coffee factories into avocado aggregation and grading centers. These facilities already have the basic infrastructure - buildings, water access and proximity to farming communities - needed to support aggregation, sorting and initial processing of avocados before they are transported to exporters.

Such a move would minimize post-harvest losses currently experienced due to lack of proper aggregation points, while also giving farmers better bargaining power against exploitative middlemen.

County governments and cooperative societies should move with speed to explore this option, potentially in partnership with private investors in the avocado export value chain.

Idle infrastructure represents wasted opportunity. It is time our region put these coffee factories back to productive use - this time in service of avocado farmers.