Edible oil manufacturers in Kenya have asked the national government to allocate them land to grow oil palm locally to help reduce the runaway prices of the commodity in the long run.

In a statement, the edible oil manufacturing sub-sector said the incentive will attract investments via public private partnerships and prioritize infrastructure and job creation.

They say through the Agriculture for Industry (A4I) initiative under the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), they will identify suitable zones to cultivate sunflower and palm fruit.

According to the edible oil sub-sector players, first fruit crop is set to be harvested in seven to eight years with the undertaking projected to benefit the economy in many other ways.

They supported Government efforts to sustainably reduce cooking oil prices, grow local manufacturing to retain protect jobs and support economic growth through value addition.

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The more than 13 players revealed they have invested capital of more than Sh100 billion and have a combined installed processing capacity of 7,160 Metric Tonnes (MT) per day.

They noted that the current edible oil market demand and consumption in Kenya is about 800,000 MT per year and leaves an idle capacity of more than one million MT, as available.

They added that more than 25 per cent of that capacity was invested in the last five years, which they say shows their pledge to boost manufacturing and grow the Kenyan economy.

The firms manufacture Crude Palm Oil (CPO), Crude Sunflower Seed Oil, Crude Soybean Oil and Crude Corn Oil into edible cooking oil, vegetable fat and margarine for local consumption and export with the by-products used to make soap.

The industry employs more than 10,000 people directly and 100,000 others in sunflower, soya and corn farming, transport, packaging, distribution and related product and services.

They further argued that the high prices of edible oil products witnessed in Kenya in the last three years were driven by global market forces and prevailing foreign exchange rates.

The edible oil manufacturers behind the statement are Bidco Africa, Acee Ltd, Darfords Health Choice, EOP, Golden Africa, Kapa Oil Refineries, Mazeras Oil Limited, Menengai, Vipingo Industries, Mvita Oils Ltd, Pwani Oil, United Millers and Salwa Kenya Limited.