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Lucrative business from their own actions<\/h2>\n

Florence Kirimi, her sister Esther and her friend Stella Kairaria stand in the shade of the well-tended mango groves at Guchia, a small village some 25 kilometres south-east of the town of Meru on Mount Kenya. They are waiting for a taxi and the 4 casual workers they have hired. The workers will fill up the delivery van with the sweet mangoes that the women have already carefully selected and for which they have paid 5 Kenya shillings per fruit. The next day, the heavy cargo will be transported more than 70 kilometres to Archers Point in the hot plains of Sambura where mangoes are rare and sell for 15 Kenia shillings \u2013 a profitable business!<\/p>\n

But how do the three women, who tongue-in-cheek call their business \u201cThe Blessing Ladies\u201d come to be buying fruit in the remote village of Guchia? \u201cThe quality here is very good,\u201d explains Florence and stresses that it was not always the case. \u201cIn recent years, mangoes from Meru District were often infested with larvae,\u201d she says and adds that the mango groves in Guchia are now in very good condition.<\/p>\n

It is not chance that the mangoes in Guchia are unblemished and grown in well-tended groves. The grove is next door to the \u201cFruit Fly IPM Learning Site\u201d at Chaaria in Meru District. This site was established by\u00a0icipe<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(Research Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology in Nairobi) with support from Biovision and other donors after exotic fruit flies landed on the East-African coast and spread unhindered because of a lack of natural predators.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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