After graduating with a degree in environmental biology in 2015, Benjamin Lemoi had two options: to join the formal employment run like his peers and others before him, or to return to his pastoralist Maasai community and try to raise herds of cows, sheep and goats.

He chose a third option, which he had held close to his chest as a trump card informed by proper field research.

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Moving back to his home in Loita, a district in Narok South Sub-county, he recruited eight members to set up the Maasai Bee-keeping Initiative (MBI), an enterprise that started with 10 Langstroth beehives purchased at Sh15,000 each.

For a strong take off, Lemoi visited other beekeeping areas in the country and studied all the best practices, which he instituted in his project.

“I went to Kitui, where I stayed for two months before travelling to Baringo, where I stayed for a similar period of time, learning the practical aspects of production, which I later implemented in our project, ” Lemoi said.

The business was an instant success and within one year the group had recouped their investment and were expanding to set up more hives in Loita Forest, Maji Moto, Nyakweri and  Esupetai, all locales under Narok County.

Yet while it would have been easier for Lemoi and the first members of his beekeeping network to keep growing the project on their own, they opted to turn it into a social enterprise which has in five years recruited more than 300 members and administers over 1000 beehives. About one quarter of the members are women, mostly widows.

“For me, it was not just about growing as a businessman, but to also provide empowerment opportunities for my community. This was a bigger mission, whose ultimate goal could only be achieved by uplifting the people amongst whom I grew,” Lemoi said.

Lemoi now manufactures langstroth beehives at a workshop in Loita, a local production that has reduced the cost of one beehive by 60 percent to KSh5,500. He also sells metallic stands with locking features at KSh1800 a piece.

Members who join his initiative, now a registered cooperative society, are taken through comprehensive beekeeping training and get ready access to markets for their produce.

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The society buys a kilogram of honey at KSh400 from the members and sells at KSh800. Wholesale buyers, some who purchase the honey to sell in the middle east get it for a bulk price of KSh500 per kilogram. On average, the society sells honey and related products worth more than KSh10million per year.

“This project started as a proof-of-concept but it has grown to be a profitable business benefiting whole communities. We are really proud of the success gained so far,” Lemoi said.

By having more members delivering honey and wax to the society, Lemoi is able to guarantee a constant supply of the products.

“There is no time that you will come to us and fail to get honey. Ours is a year-round supply of high quality honey, produced using indigenous trees, which give a special flavour that cannot be replicated elsewhere,” he said.

Bee-keeping in Kenya is an agricultural field that is yet to be well exploited with the industry bearing an estimated yield of 100,000 metric tonnes per year. However, just 20 percent of the country’s honey production potential has been tapped.

“The beauty about bee keeping is that it can be practised alongside other agricultural activities as the hives do not generally occupy substantial ground space. In addition, the hives can be set up even on land that is not arable, therefore making productive use of resources that were previously disregarded,” Lemoi said.

At present, 80 percent of the country’s honey is produced using traditional log hives, which yield almost half the honey produced by bees in modern langstroth hives.

“With proper training, farmers can take up improved production methods, which yield more honey, and, certainly, more income for them,” said Lemoi.

With his success in Narok, Lemoi and his MBI society are looking to expand into other regions of the country, setting up new apiaries, while training existing farmers to increase their output.

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Contact: Bernard Lemoi/Maasai Beekeeping Initiative: 0721980963/0722772114

-ENDS

.Organic farming is growing rapidly in Kenya, but for many smallholder farmers, securing the certification to earn supermarket and export contracts as organic producers is proving hard to reach. The answer, say experts, is to work as groups.

According to Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), one of the world's leading institutes in the field of organic agriculture, organic farmland in Africa has doubled in area in the last decade, to 2.1m hectares, with the biggest organic centres in East and North Africa and the crops they grow enjoyed the world over.

But, in Kenya, certification of smallholders who avoid synthetic fertilisers and pesticides has remained difficult due to a lack of information, scant government support and the high cost of getting certifying documents.

To become a member of Kenya Organic Agriculture Network (KOAN) or Association of Organic Agriculture Practitioners of Kenya, which helps in training of organic farmers and facilitation of the certification process, farmer groups must pay a Sh10,000 registration fee before factoring in the yearly renewal fee, training costs and, finally, certification fee by the relevant government agencies.

Beatrice Wangui who grows arrowroot organically on her small plot in Gathigiriri village near Gilgil Town says that despite the crop being listed among the high-value crops in Kenya, she has not been able to access the formal organic market due to lack of certification of her cropland.

“I have tried looking for supply tenders for my produce in supermarkets and big groceries, but the lack of proper documents for me and other farmers within this area has limited us to local open-air markets,” said Wangui.

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Beatrice says she learnt about the organic farming methods from a grass roots farming group known as the Seed Savers Network, which is based in Gilgil. But with access to the international market requiring an interface with multiple government agencies, getting someone to introduce or take smallholders through the process can be critical.

 Organic farming certification process

It is mandatory that all producers and processors of organic products keen to enter export market must register their enterprises in order to be recognised by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), which has agents or branches in different countries.

In Kenya IFOAM is represented by EnCert Limited.

The process of certification starts by the producer changing his or her mind-set to go organic then applies for certification by filling a form from EnCert.

Inspectors then come to the respective farm to verify if the producer adheres with the organic production laws. They check on record keeping, the surrounding and inside of the farm, seed and seed treatments, fertilizer and plant protection scheme, storage facility and finally packaging and labelling of the produce.If the inspector is satisfied with all the above conditions, he or she presents the findings to the registration committee for approval. If the committee approves the enterprise, the owner is issued with an international number and later organic farming certificate is issued.

The certificate is thereafter required to be renewed annually.

Chances for Small-scale farmers 

The challenges of the certification process make it more viable, say experts, if farmers who own small farms work together and produce intensively for domestic markets as they advance to international markets.

Ronnie Vernooy, a Genetic Resource Policy Specialist at Bioversity International, says such farmers can work in groups, specialise in producing particular crops and target specific markets.

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“Farmers can, for example, decide to produce organic herbs, set prices and look for a suitable market they can sustainably supply,” says Vernooy.

KOAN also can come in handy for these producers in building knowledge, including through the organisation’s annual membership newsletter.

According to Okisegere Ojepat, CEO, Fresh Produce Consortium of Kenya, apart from financial assistance, training and research is needed in the sector to unlock future prospects of smallholder organic farmers in Kenya and beyond.

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“The industry is held back by more than just money. A lack of crop-specific research and equipment, including understanding of weather patterns and pest control, is keeping farmers from innovating. Pushing for more organic farming without building technical capacity would not be sustainable in the long run,” said Ojepat.