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: 13 May 2019; Hits: 4350

Kenya Breweries Limited commits Sh8m for the restoration of Mt. Kenya and Aberdare forests

kbl tree planting

Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) in collaboration with Nature Kenya and Kenya Forest Service has committed Ksh.8 million towards the restoration of Mt. Kenya and Aberdares forests as part of its environmental conservation efforts through the brewer’s staff-driven initiative, Kijani, that aims to plant over 100,000 trees in the next two years.

The initiative which begun last year April saw the firm plant trees on 250 acres of Mt. Kenya Forest starting with the area around Naro Moru.

KBL will engage Community Forest Associations (CFA's) namely; Hombe, Kabaru, Naro Moru, Gathiuru, Ngare- Ndare, Kieni, and Wanjerere, which have over 1,200 members each. Nature Kenya will also monitor the trees for a period of two years to ensure maximum survival.

Speaking during the cheque handover event, EABL Group Corporate Director Eric Kiniti said that reducing environmental impact is important for KBL as a business and is entrenched in their sustainability agenda.

"Environmental conservation is at the core of our business and is one of our key sustainability pillars. When we neglect our ecosystems, we not only destroy habitats for our wild and domestics animals, we make it harder for communities and businesses to operate. We, therefore, have to be more deliberate with our conservation and rehabilitation efforts", said Mr. Kiniti

"This is the second time that we are participating in the rehabilitation of the Mt. Kenya Forest. In partnership with nature Kenya, we have been able to restore 100 ha of the forest by planting 100,000 indigenous trees between 2017 and 2018. We have planted 67,000 trees in Hombe forest block, 23,000 at Kabaru forest block, 2,000 at Naromoru forest and 8,000 at Gathiuru forest" he added.

So far, KBL has planted and nurtured over one million tree seedlings, whose success rate is 85% success rate.

Kenya Forest Service Chief Conservator of Forests, Julius Kamau, said that water towers across the country have been undergoing serious degradation and called on Kenyans to support the restoration of water catchments such as Mt Kenya Forest and Aberdare Forests.

"Taking action to restore Mt. Kenya and Aberdare is not a choice but an obligation. They provide fresh drinking water to over 2 million people. Over 70% of Kenya's electricity is from hydropower, half of it generated from Tana River, which originates from these water towers. In essence, Mt. Kenya and Aberdare are a crucial source for drinking water, food, electricity and jobs for millions of Kenyans," said Mr Kamau.

"Urgent action is needed. Down-stream water users including businesses, hydropower producers, crop farmers, and water transfer companies need to provide incentives for upstream stakeholders and forest protectors to halt forest loss, restore degraded areas and promote sustainable land management and production. We commend company's such as KBL that are actively involved in the restoration of water catchment areas" he added.

Nature Kenya executive director Dr Paul Matiku said KBL's support had demonstrated that it was possible for businesses to catalyze forest restoration.Dr. Matiku urged other corporates to follow KBL's lead and make strategic commitments.

Kenya Forest Service also presented KBL with a certificate for completing the first phase of the Mt. Kenya Forest restoration project where they planted 100,000 trees, recognizing the project's contribution to environmental conservation.

Data released by Global Forest Watch in 2017 indicates that the world has lost over 400,000 square kilometres of forest cover. The15 per cent increase in carbon emissions recorded in 2017 has been also been linked to the high rate of deforestation.

In Kenya, the forest cover stands at 7percent, with the government seeking to double this by planting over 1 million trees by 2022.

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: 10 May 2019; Hits: 4353

Coffee prices up 14 per cent on delivery of quality beans

The price of a 50kg bag of coffee has increased to Sh8,800 up from Sh7,700 last week according to the Nairobi Coffee Exchange, the trading floor of Kenya’s coffee.

The company in a market report says the improvement is attributed to delivery of quality beans by farmers in the country.

According to the 2019 Economic Survey Report, the area under coffee production increased from 114.7 thousand hectares in 2016/17 to 115.6 thousand hectares in 2017/18, mainly on account of small holder co-operatives.

Government launches online system to enable coffee farmers monitor sales at Nairobi Coffee Exchange

Farmers return to coffee as global demand hit new highs

coffee beans

Coffee beans

The quantity of coffee produced increased by seven per cent from 38.7 thousand tonnes in 2016/17 to 41.4 thousand tonnes in 2017/18. This was as a result of new planting especially in areas west of the Rift and improved productivity in Central and in areas east of the Rift and availability of subsidized fertilizer provided through the National Cereals and Produce Board.

However, coffee production by estates declined by 22.5 per cent from 14.2 thousand tonnes in 2016/17 to 11.0 thousand tonnes in 2017/18 due to uprooting of coffee bushes in peri-urban areas to make way for real estate development. The average yield of coffee from cooperatives increased by 23.6 per cent while that of Estates decreased by 22.6 per cent, in the 2017/18 crop year.

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: 07 May 2019; Hits: 8181

Kirinyaga County macadamia farmers up their production thanks to ready market

macadamia at limbua Mature macadamia trees can produce between 80kg and 300kg of nuts per harvest. Currently, a kilo sells at Sh70 in the Kenyan markets. Photo courtesy.

Macadamia farmers from Githure and Kianyaga in Kirinyaga County who were recording poor yields due to lack of proper farming knowledge and viable market have now tripled their production per farmer from 1,000kg in 2010 to 3,000kg currently, thanks to a processing plant in the region which offers them training and market for their produce.

Limbua Group, a macadamia processing plant was put up in the region in 2010 by Peter Wangara and his business partner Matti Spiecker after extensive research which incorporated Egerton University’s Department of Crops, Horticulture and Soils and Kenya Organic Agriculture Network.

“Some residents in this area used to grow macadamia on small-scale because the nuts had no viable market which could offer them a good return. The farmers were also faced with pest and diseases which destroyed the crops hence lack of hope among them,” said Peter Wangara who is also an auditor by profession.

The farm which started with only eight small-scale farmers then, is now working with over 5,000 farmers in the county while others come from the neighbouring Embu County.

For quality purposes, the farmers are trained on how to curb pests and diseases and the requisite standards they must meet for the export market.

“Apart from ensuring that our farmers have the required and certified seedlings, we insist on organic production of the nuts. This is because we realized many farmers were oversupplying fertiliser and pesticides to grow the nuts,” said Wangara.

After waiting for about 10 years maturity period of the plants, a farmer would start harvesting for the first time, between 30kg and 50kg, depending on the variety and the attention given to the trees as production increases at every harvest.

Very mature trees can produce between 80kg and 300kg of nuts per harvest.

“We then source the produce from the farmers, process the nuts by removing the shells, drying and packaging to meet international standards,” said Wangara.

However, after harvesting, macadamia nuts must be husked within 24 hours and kept in a well-ventilated place to prevent deterioration due to heat, which makes them mouldy and even leads to germination.

According to experts, an acre of land can hold up to 71 macadamia trees. This should earn a farmer, going by the current government market regulation of at least Sh70 per kilo of nuts, up to Sh1.4m per acre, depending on agronomic practices and favourable weather conditions.

Though it has been a long journey, Limbua Group is now exporting the nuts to the European Union markets where the demand is overwhelming.

“There is much competition from our buyers in the international market and that is why we need more farmers willing to do organic farming of macadamia to grow the crop,” said Wangara.

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