HDIC-KTI-01 · Kitui County
Sunflower Circular Hub
An integrated Rural Industrial Node aggregating smallholder sunflower production, mechanised oil pressing, refining, animal-feed press-cake, soap making, briquette production and revolving farmer finance in Kitui County.
Image is AI-generated for illustration
Value chain
- 01Sunflower production
- 02Farmer aggregation
- 03Oil pressing
- 04Refining & packaging
- 05Oil markets
- 06Press cake for animal feed
- 07Soap & briquette enterprises
- 08Revenue reinvestment
Problem
Kitui and neighbouring ASAL counties import edible oils while local smallholders lack aggregated markets, working capital and post-harvest processing capacity for drought-adapted oilseeds.
HDIC approach
HDIC anchors production across contracted farmer cooperatives, provides certified seed and agronomic support, aggregates seed at a modular hub for pressing and refining, and monetises every by-product — press cake as animal feed, hulls as briquettes, oil into food markets, and soap through youth and women enterprises.
Objectives
- ◆Onboard smallholder sunflower producers across Kitui and neighbouring counties
- ◆Establish modular pressing, refining and packaging capacity at a central hub
- ◆Structure a revolving fund for inputs, aggregation and enterprise incubation
- ◆Create youth and women enterprises around press-cake feed, soap and briquettes
- ◆Digitise farmer registration, delivery, quality and payment traceability
Components
Cooperative onboarding, extension, contracted acreage and quality standards.
Mechanised cold-press oil extraction, filtration and refining.
Animal-feed formulation, soap production and biomass briquettes.
Seasonal input finance and equipment leasing repaid through offtake.
Farmer registry, quality logs, weighbridge and payment records.
Implementation phases
- Phase 01Phase 1 · Feasibility & Land
Site confirmation, permits, cooperative mapping.
- Phase 02Phase 2 · Farmer onboarding & Pilot
First-cohort planting and pilot pressing run.
- Phase 03Phase 3 · Hub build-out
Refining line, feed mill and by-product enterprises.
- Phase 04Phase 4 · Scale & Replication
Additional acreage, satellite aggregation, second-county pilot.
Funding
HDIC has not published a funding figure for this project yet. Ask for the latest position.
Risks & mitigations
Drought-tolerant seed selection and staggered planting windows.
Cooperative anchor model with transparent digital contracting.
Diversified by-product revenue and long-term offtake agreements.