Passion fruit farmers in Eldoret are losing Sh4 million per week due to the political turmoil that has hit the regionafter they failed to reach key markets.

But even as the North Rift growers count their losses, farmers in Central Kenya have been left to supply the overstretched demand Nairobi.

Yesterday, the Kenya Horticultural Development Programme (KHDP) said tonnes of passion fruit were going to waste for lack of buyers.

Joseph Cheboi, a farmer in Iten who produces 2.5 tonnes of passion fruit per week, said he had been forced to find market in the neighbouring Uganda to avoid total loss.

Kenya produces about 40,650 metric tones of passion fruits every year with 36 per cent of total output coming from the Rift Valley. In the North Rift, the produce is currently selling at a price of Sh20 per kilo at the farm gate compared to an average price of Sh30 earned in January last year.

Passion prices tend to drop in January but pick up in March because of the demand from the international market. During peak season, prices rise up to Sh70 per kilo at the farm gate. Domestic buyers and processors therefore rely on the January - March season to meet their targets.

Fips Limited, a fruit processor in Nairobi is one such company. The company said it normally gets 10 tonnes of passion fruit per week from Eldoret region but now it is getting none and is only able to get ninetonnes from Central region which is way below its target for the season, said Wilson Kamau, Fips fruit buyers.

Fips was hoping to double their purchases this season and is predicting a sharp increase in the price of passion fruit and passion fruit products in the next two months.

KHDP, a programme which seeks to improve production among small holder passion fruit farmers has also established that apart from unaccessibility to markets, some farmers are also unable to access pest control products from Agro dealers.

This is leading to further losses in the farms. The agronomists and other agricultural extension officers are also unable to reach the farms.

Geoffrey Nyamota, KHDP agronomist in the Rift Valley region, said: "For now we are offering technical assistance to the farmers using the phone as a temporal measure in hope that the situation improves soon."

Eldoret region has for the past three years become a major source of purple passion fruit for export.