Bungoma County is located in Western along the border with Uganda with Bungoma Town being the capital of the County.
The economy of Bungoma County is mainly in the sector of agriculture with sugarcane and maize being the two major crops that account for the County’s income as the County enjoys a good weather with high amounts of rainfall. Many farmers in this County, have, therefore, invested in sugarcane and maize farming both in largescale and small scale.
Before, the County used to boom in terms of agriculture because industries were up and kicking. There came a time where mismanagement of key agricultural industries set in and farmers became disillusioned and only resorted to subsistence farming as a way of farming crops for food.
There used to be a daily factory called Kitinda Dairy that used to purchase milk from farmers. This used to boost dairy farming practice in the County but the factory has since died despite 150 million shillings being pumped in to revive it.
There is also an abundance of bananas and tomatoes in the County with no proper channels to utilize the products. With these crops in plenty, there is a great potential for banana wine as well as tomato products.
Despite all these potentials in the County, the County faces numerous challenges that has always inhibited investments as well as reinvestments. Most farmer lack proper educational skills that would enable them to venture into large scale farming despite the presence of large tracks of land. There is also poor infrastructure in terms of the roads especially those leading into the interior. This makes transport very difficult. There has also been numerous cases of insecurity in the County where people have died as a result and businesses have not been spared.
The politics of Bungoma County.
At the moment, there is an increasing political heat in Bungoma County just two years to the next general elections. The seat being hotly contested for is the gubernatorial seat that has already kicked off with the majority blaming the current governor for mismanagement of public funds. The new move of early campaigns has attracted critics from the public terming it as a hindrance to economic developments.
There is also a battle between the presumed political heavyweights Eugene Wamalwa and the current Senator Moses Wetangula of Ford Kenya with their differences even displaying on various public forums.
In the past, the waves of insecurity where some goons attacked residents with pangas and machetes was blamed on these political intrigues. This is why most investors keenly watch the political waves in the County as well as the handling of the incidences of insecurity.
What next for investors in Bungoma County?
Bungoma County has potential especially in the agricultural sector. Investors can take this opportunity to invest in building millers for maize farmers because despite producing maize, the county has no single miller. Investors also can invest in dairy farming. There is a lot of milk in the county. There is no dairy at the moment because Kitinda Dairy is ailing. There is also need to build sugar outlet factories because there is a lot of sugarcane but because of monopoly, nothing great goes on in the sector.
Investors should however be prepared to face challenges such as poor infrastructures, high poverty levels as well as illiteracy among farmers on new farming technologies.