evic-

tion from disputed Voi Bata land

Anxiety has gripped more than 3, 500 squatters on a land formerly belonging to Bata shoe company in Voi after another company went to court and obtained orders to have them evicted .

The company obtained orders to kick out the families at Mswambeni after a case filed in 2020 was concluded by the High Court in Mombasa.

The company claims it bought the land measuring 54 acres from Bata at a price of Sh12m in 2012.

However the squatters said the land in dispute was their ancestral property which they had leased out to Bata to put up a shoe factory so that it (Bata) could provide employment opportunities to locals.

“Our grandfathers gave out the land to Bata to set up a shoe factory which they never did and it was wrong for them to sell it off to a third party without our consent. After failing to put up the factory the land in question should have reverted back to us,” said Alfred Mnjama, one of the aggrieved squatters. He said Bata should have compensated them for the land but instead sold it to another company without considering their plight as the rightful owners.

Despite being a key foreign income earner for the country, sisal farming has remained a “sleeping giant” in Kenya’s agribusiness ventures, trailing behind tea, coffee and horticultural produce.

The challenges facing the sisal subsector in Kenya hinge largely on land use politics and human rights issues rather than the viability of the crop itself.

The land factor has continued to dog the sector especially in Coast region and in Taita- Taveta county in particular, where over 300,000 acres of land comprise private sisal farms.

In the hazy mist of human rights issues, especially workers” terms of service and encroachment on locals’ land, the potential value of sisal in strengthening the economic fabric of both county and country seems uncertain.

For instance, Taita –Taveta County is ranked first in sisal production in East Africa. It also produces the best sisal fibres in the region.

As a result, the sisal sub-sector is a major economic activity particularly in the lower marginal areas of the county which are essentially arid and semi-arid and therefore unfit for other forms of agriculture.

However, the huge potential of sisal farming in the county has not trickled down to the common mwananchi largely because the vast farms are private business enterprises whose benefits end up into private pockets.

“The county has a huge potential in sisal farming but the benefits can only be realized if local communities are empowered to undertake small scale sisal farming ventures as happens in Tanzania. The sisal can be cultivated alongside aloe vera which is also an arid plant . Both crops can come in handy in supporting cottage industries to produce fibre, medicinal and personal care products,” said former Taveta MP Mwacharo Kubo.

He suggested that the county government should send a delegation comprising experts in agribusiness to Tanzania to study how the country had succeeded in undertaking viable agribusiness ventures in sisal farming so that the county can develop a concept paper to guide the same in TaitaTaveta.

“Putting land politics and other sticking issues aside, the potential value of sisal as a cash crop in TaitaTaveta and the whole Coast region cannot be overlooked,” he said.

The former MP pointed out that sisal farming is a viable alternative land use venture that could steer the county out of poverty but emphasized that diversification held the key to sustainability where the sisal farms can also venture into dairy and horticultural production as well as bee keeping.

A glaring example of the viability of sisal farming is Rea Vipingo Plantations which has vast sisal investments in both Kenya and Tanzania .

The group has two sisal estates in Kenya with a total sisal fibre production of over 12,000 tonnes annually, representing about half of Kenya’s total sisal fibre production.

The Dwa Estate, located at Kibwe- zi some 200 kilometres southeast of Nairobi, is the largest estate in the group, with a land area of 8,990 hectares and an annual fibre production of over 7,000 tonnes.

The global sisal production stands at about 240,000 tonnes of which Brazil, the largest producing country, produces over 100,000 tonnes.

China produces 40,000 tonnes, Kenya 27,600 tonnes, Tanzania approximately 17,000 tonnes, Venezuela 10,500 tonnes and Madagascar 9,000 tonnes. Smaller amounts also come from South Africa, Mozambique, Haiti, and Cuba.

Sisal occupies sixth place among fibre plants and is classified as one of the world’s most important natural fibres.

The Vipingo Estate is located about 30 kilometres north of Mombasa, and has a land area of 3,950 hectares. The annual sisal fibre production of Vipingo is close to 5,000 tonnes.

The group also owns three sisal

Kenya is ranked third largest sisal producer after Brazil and China. The main export markets include China, Spain, Morocco, Portugal and Saudi Arabia. Over 80 per cent of the sisal fibre produced in Kenya is exported while the remaining 20 per cent produced by smallholders is processed in cottage industries to make products for both local and export market.

Processing

The processing of sisal involves several stages, namely decortica- estates in Tanzania , the Mwera, Sakura and Kigombe estates, located between 50 and 70 kilometers south of Tanga in north eastern Tanzania. These estates are owned by Amboni Plantations Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of REA Vipingo Plantations. The Tanzania estates produce over 7,500 tonnes of sisal fibre annually which is exported through the port of Tanga. tions ( extraction of fibre), drying and brushing and finally baling.

Before being packed into bales, the sisal must be brushed to remove pieces which adhere after decortications and drying. Brushing also frees individual fibers from each other and removes the short fibres which are discarded.

Grading is done for marketing purposes as different grades attract different prices.

Baling and packing are aimed at achieving the lowest possible volume, in order to realize savings on freight charges, while facilitating ease of handling. Sisal fibre is

“Putting land politics and other sticking issues aside, the potential value of sisal as a cash crop in Taita-Taveta and the whole Coast region cannot be overlooked,” therefore baled under great pressure to achieve high density.

Competition

However, sisal continues to face stiff competition from synthetic fibres in the world market, with corresponding reduction in prices. Sisal has numerous uses such making ropes, carpets, rugs , brushes used in machinery, gloves and bathroom accessories as well as making furniture.