Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru leads a team of county officials during an inspection tour of Sagana Industrial Park/FILEKirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru says the Sagana County Aggregation and Industrial Park, which is nearing completion, is expected to create more than 10,000 direct jobs for young people and thousands of indirect employment opportunities once it becomes operational.
Speaking during an inspection of the project, Governor Waiguru said the facility will serve as a major manufacturing and value-addition hub, accelerating industrial growth while transforming Kirinyaga's agricultural economy.
Located within the Sagana Agro-Industrial Special Economic Zone (SEZ), the Industrial Park is designed to strengthen agricultural value chains by providing farmers with modern aggregation, storage and processing facilities, enabling them to earn more from their produce.
Waiguru said the project is almost complete with construction ongoing on eight warehouses. These include two cold storage facilities, two aggregation warehouses and four value-addition warehouses that will support agro-processing industries once operational.
She noted that the park will connect farmers directly to processing industries, reducing post-harvest losses while increasing the value of locally produced crops.
"Farmers growing avocados will have a ready market through an avocado oil processing factory, while tomato farmers will supply produce to a tomato paste processing plant," she said.
According to the governor, the project is expected to create significant employment opportunities for youth and women while attracting investors in agro-processing and manufacturing.
Waiguru described the Industrial Park as one of Kirinyaga County's flagship economic transformation projects, saying it will spur investment, strengthen local industries and expand markets for farmers.
She added that ongoing reforms by the county government have continued to attract new investments, including rice mills, hatcheries, eco-tourism ventures and other value-addition industries.
The Sagana Industrial Park is part of the national County Aggregation and Industrial Parks programme being implemented jointly by the national and county governments.
President William Ruto has said the programme is intended to unlock the industrial potential of counties, promote value addition, create jobs and stimulate economic growth by bringing manufacturing closer to areas of production.
The Sagana facility is expected to become one of the country's key agro-industrial centres, helping farmers earn more while creating sustainable employment and boosting the region's economy.
