Pineapple farming is among the fastest-growing agricultural sub-sectors in Homa Bay County, Kenya specifically Rangwe sub-county. However, limited attention has been given to the market access of this produce. Evidenced by vast quantities of pineapples harvested from the farms and stacked along main highways without targeting a specific market. This result to a small portion being sold and the rest deteriorating, consequently reducing returns for pineapple agripreneurs. Therefore, this paper sought to determine those factors that influences access to formal market by pineapple agripreneurs and as well as find out challenges of and opportunities for accessing formal markets by the Rangwe pineapple agripreneurs. The survey was undertaken in Rangwe Sub-county, and multisampling method was used to select a sample of 183 pineapple agripreneurs from the study area, primary data was collected using a semi-structured survey tool. Data was analyzed by descriptive analysis and Logistic regression model. Results indicated that pineapple agripreneurs were faced with numerous challenges in accessing pineapple market, also there existed several market access opportunities for pineapple agripreneurs. The results of logistic regression analysis revealed extension contacts, education level and price of pineapple as factors that were positively and statistically significant in influencing access to formal markets. While those that were statistically and negatively influencing access to formal market comprised of; age of household head, household size, and type of road. The study recommends;  improvement of road infrastructure in pineapple producing areas so as to improve on their market access; development of policies that encourages capacity building of pineapple agripreneurs in Rangwe sub-county

The Refractance window dryer (RWD) is a fourth generation dehydration technology. RWD is used to dry heat-sensitive materials because it retains high nutrient content, colour, flavour, aroma and bioactive compounds. The dehydrated products have a high sensory quality. There were no RWD in East Africa despite their excellent performance hence need for local fabrication of RWD Prototypes that can meet the technical, economical and socio-economical requirements. This paper describes the performance evaluation and economic analysis of the RWD prototype developed at the Kenya Industrial and Development Institute (KIRDI), Kenya. Indicators such as drying rate and drying time were used to assess its technical performance. The economic performance of the dryer was appraised using Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR), and Payback Period (PBP). Mango pulp and African leafy vegetables were dried using the RWD prototype at KIRDI between May-July, 2021. During drying process, moisture content of mango pulp was reduced from 88% to 15% in one hour while African leafy vegetable from 88% to 5% in 40 minutes. The economic evaluation of the dryer revealed an IRR of 31%, NPV of 808223.515 @ 24% and PBP of 3.6 years. KIRDI RWD prototype is a versatile technology that can be deployed in remote settings resulting to reduction of post-harvest losses as well as carbon emission. Currently, sun drying, solar drying, cabinet drying, spray drying, drum drying, fluidized bed drying and freeze drying are available in Kenya. They possess various advantages and equally significant drawbacks. Therefore the adoption of KIRDI’s Refractance window dryer would be beneficial to Micro Small and Medium enterprises in providing timely drying services and improve their socio-economic status.