The Eldoret International Airport which was opened 24 years ago remains under-utilized in terms of exports and contribution to the county and regional economy. This is according to Mr Ahmed Mohamed, owner of the Canken International Limited, a cargo-handling firm-based at the airport.
The facility was expected to boost the rich agriculture sector through exports as well as give fillip to tourism circuit in the end contributing to the country’s economic growth and link Western Kenya to local and international space. However, more than two decades down the line, the multi-billion shilling airport remains under used.
The facility has two cargo handlers – Canken International Limited and Siginon freight handlers with cold rooms but these remain idle due to limited products for export. Canken has 110 tonnes storage capacity for dry or imported goods and 230 tonnes capacity to handle fresh produce while Siginon has 40 tonne capacity unused cold rooms and another 200 tonnes for dry cargo.
Shortage of cold storage facilities
The cargo firm approached the Kenya Airport Authority in 2006 to construct cold rooms at the airport upon realization of shortage of cold storage facilities. KAA enabled them to acquire a piece of land and supported us to develop the facility with hopes of sustaining export market.
“We were hit by a major challenge; insufficient volumes of horticultural produce for export. The only attempt was by USaid project to train farmers and empower them to grow crops for export market but eight years later, they abandoned the mission when most farmers failed to produce required quality and quantity of the crops. Our target was to get at least 40 tonnes in a week to sustain export market but we only managed to get between three to five tonnes. And with that we aborted it,” said Mr Ahmed Mohamed.
Data from the airport indicates that at its peak, in 2006, 956 tonnes of agricultural produce were exported via the facility. But since 2009, the airport has largely been used for passenger movement and import of goods. Cargo imports volumes stood at 8.5 million kilogrammes at February this year (2020/2021) compared to 9.6 million kilogrammes of cargo in same period last February attributed to the disruption caused by Covid-19 pandemic.
Plans are however underway by Kenya Airports Authority to develop a cargo strategy, expand the runway and renovate existing warehouses and construction of new ones through public-private partnership. There is also a fresh bid by county governments and other stakeholders to promote investment in products targeting export market in a bid to generate additional revenue and boost the local economy.
