The Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) has disclosed receipt of a privately initiated proposal from Mt Elgon Orchards Ltd to develop an integrated avocado and berry farming, processing and export enterprise on roughly 1,000 acres of ADC land in Trans Nzoia County.
ADC received the proposal on July 16, 2026, under Section 40 of the Public Private Partnerships Act, 2021. The corporation published the disclosure in line with a National Treasury circular that requires contracting authorities to notify the public whenever they receive an unsolicited proposal of this kind.
What ADC Disclosed
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Contracting Authority | Agricultural Development Corporation PLC |
| Proponent | Mt Elgon Orchards Ltd (MEOL) |
| Project location | Japata Farm, Trans Nzoia County (about 400 hectares / 1,000 acres) |
| Proposal received | July 16, 2026 |
| Legal basis | Section 40, Public Private Partnerships Act, Cap 430 (2021) |
| Disclosure basis | National Treasury Circular on Public Disclosure of PIPs, April 24, 2025 |
| Public comment window | 21 days from publication |
| Contact | Managing Director, ADC PLC, P.O. Box 47101-00100 Nairobi; executiveoffice@adc.go.ke |
Inside The Proposal
Mt Elgon Orchards wants to lease the land from ADC to establish and run avocado and berry orchards. Under the plan, the company would finance, develop and operate the farming enterprise from start to finish, then eventually hand the enterprise back to ADC once the partnership term ends.
Harvested fruit would move through Mt Elgon Orchards’ own packhouse and cold chain facility in Trans Nzoia, which the company already owns and runs. From there, produce would leave the country through the company’s licensed Special Economic Zone node.
That structure matters for one reason: ADC would not need to spend any capital on processing or export infrastructure. Mt Elgon Orchards already has both in place, so the corporation’s contribution would be the land itself, while the private partner carries the financing and operational risk.
ADC frames the deal as consistent with its mandate to put idle agricultural land to productive use and to draw in investment that supports food security and export earnings. The National Treasury circular under which ADC is disclosing the proposal exists precisely to keep this kind of unsolicited deal open to public scrutiny before it moves further through the approval process.
Who Gets A Say
ADC has listed the parties it expects to consult as the proposal moves forward. They include the National Treasury, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the Trans Nzoia County Government, the National Environment Management Authority, the National Land Commission, the Water Resources Authority, the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service, the Agriculture and Food Authority and the Kenya Investment Authority. Project affected persons, local communities, financiers and other horticultural sector players also fall within that circle.
Members of the public have 21 days from the date of publication to submit comments, views or objections. ADC has been clear that the disclosure itself is not an approval. The proposal still has to pass through review under the applicable legal and regulatory framework before anything is signed.
Who Is Mt Elgon Orchards
Mt Elgon Orchards sits at the base of Mount Elgon in western Kenya, stretching between the Suam River and the Kitale-Endebess road, right on the border between Kenya and Uganda. The farm dates back to 1921, when Bob Andersen’s grandfather established it, and the land remains part of the Andersen family’s horticultural business today.
The farm now combines farmland, rivers and canals, homes, roads and community areas alongside its crops. Roses cover about 45 hectares, avocados about 120 hectares, and a further 150 hectares sit under protected indigenous forest, a mix that positions Mt Elgon Orchards as much a conservation site as a commercial farm.
Roses became the company’s main line in 1993. The farm ships more than 250,000 stems a day to Rose Handling Services BV in the Netherlands and holds exclusive rights to grow the Charmant rose variety, alongside several sustainability certifications.
Avocados are the newer bet. Mt Elgon Orchards began planting Hass avocados in 2016 and has stated plans to expand to 400 hectares, a scale that lines up closely with the 1,000 acres named in the ADC proposal. Across both crops, the company produces more than 90 million roses and 15 million avocados a year, and it draws 660 kilowatts of power from hydro and solar sources as it works toward a carbon neutral target by 2029. The company also runs the Mount Elgon Trust, established in 2005 to fund education, healthcare and community projects in the surrounding region.
Why This Matters
Privately initiated proposals let a private company pitch a public land or infrastructure deal on its own terms, rather than through a competitive tender. Kenya’s PPP framework allows this route, but it has drawn scrutiny elsewhere, including a parliamentary inquiry into a Kenya Airways proposal to Kenya Airports Authority, over whether unsolicited deals deliver the same value for money as open bidding.
The disclosure requirement ADC is following was introduced for that reason: to give the public a window to weigh in before a proposal advances to negotiation. Whether the Mt Elgon Orchards deal proceeds now depends on the comments ADC receives, the assessments of the listed regulators and county government, and the corporation’s own review of the proposal against its mandate over the next stage of the process.
