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: 09 March 2017; Hits: 11232

Prison officer makes beauty products from beeswax

Beauty products made out of beeswax. A Tanzanian prison officer makes cosmetics from beeswax. Photo by The Huffington Post.

In venturing into the rich beauty market, Edward Frank started processing comb wax- which many farmers discard after extracting honey, into natural cosmetics.

The Tanzanian farmer, who is also a prisons officer, said the Tanzanian culture that embraces beauty was the motivation behind the beauty business.

"In the Swahili culture set up, women strive to look beautiful. Offering them the natural beauty enhancer was an opportunity for me to make an extra coin out of bees," the farmer said.

Although he started the apiary for honey harvesting, the farmer has slowly drifted into the cosmetics, which are also paying him well.

Frank harvests two kilos of beeswax from his 14 locally made beehives quarterly.

READ ALSO:Domesticating stingless bees

While locals in Kenya use the wax in making candles and other cheap application like coating shoe repair strings, the Iringa farmer churns out lipsticks, eye liners, balms, lip gloss, among other products.

Frank is a Tanzania Prisons Service officer at night; in the morning, he is a bee farmer; in the afternoon, he rests before changing into a public officer again in the evening.

"Making cosmetics is simple if the raw materials are ready. The difference in making the various items is the ratio of mixing the ingredients with the wax. One or two extra additives give a scented lip balm or neutral lip stick," Frank said.

Sunflower oil is one of the basic ingredients while honey is used as a sweetener and binding agent.

The mixtures are melted together to allow for a smooth interaction of the particles before cooling into solids in packaging containers.

A 2.5g dozen of the balms earns him TZS 26, 800 (Kes4, 800).

From the traditional beehives, the farmer harvests 60 litres of honey twice a year. Each litre is sold at TZS 10,000(about Kes460).

"I started bee keeping after learning from other locals, who majorly targeted honey. I started with them, but my destiny was different-producing what others are not making. My boss supported my apiary idea by allowing me to use part of the prisons land," he said.

The proceeds from the agribusiness venture have helped him buy 14 acres of land, over which he expects to expand the bee activity.

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: 08 March 2017; Hits: 9811

Green maize cost triples in Mombasa

Maize green Osman Jumbe Mombasa ASK by Laban Robert.JPG

Olerai Seeds Company Limited sales representative checks a maize cob for maturity during the 2016 ASK Show in Mombasa. Green maize price has triples in Mombasa. Photo by Laban Robert.

The cost of green maize in Mombasa has tripled as the shortage for the country's staple food spreads due to the ongoing.

Zacchary Masing’a, a maize trader at the Kongowea Market in Mombasa, said the price has risen up by more than three times in the past seven months.

A 115kg bag filled with maize is bought at an average of Sh5,800 though at times it fluctuates between Sh5,700 and Sh6,000 depending on the supply per day.

The cost of maize, which is the country’s staple food, has tripled since November 2016. This is attributed to low rainfall in the country, affecting even food-rich counties in the Rift valley region.

Mombasa County neighbours Kilifi, and Kwale Counties, which have been hit by the ongoing famine alongside Tana River and Taita-Taveta.

More than 90 per cent of the farm produce is ‘imported’ from up country and Tanzania.

The price in Mombasa is thrice what wholesalers in Nakuru are paying for the same quantity of maize- Sh1,800.

Masinga said when the maize in plenty, more so in the Rift Valley, the same quantity costs less than Sh1,000.

Green maize is boiled or roasted for sale in the market streets and along the roads of major towns in the country. Roast maize, which costs Sh20 is retailing at between Sh10 and Sh40. A piece that was sold for Sh5 is costing Sh10, Masing'a said.

But more others buy the fresh produce for mixing with beans for a delicacy commonly called pure in Swahili, githeri in Kikuyu, Nyoyo in Dholuo, eyoyo in Ekegusii among other names.

According to Soko+, an online agribusiness pricelist source, a 115kg of green maize costs Sh2,260 in Nairobi, Sh2,520 in Kisumu and Sh2160 in Eldoret.

The few farmers who are producing the available maize in the various part of the country including central Kenya are relying on irrigation.

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: 07 March 2017; Hits: 7697

Taming avocado pests eases entry into EU market

Farmer displays hass avocado harvest. Pest control eases penetration into the triple paying EU market. Photo by Courtesy.

With the expanding of the export market into the European Union after the introduction of the controlled atmosphere shipping equipment, farmers can beat chemical residue hurdle using organic methods of pest control.

The EU market recently froze the chemical residue level from 0.2 to 0.02 parts per a million for agro-products entering member states.

Although it can be tedious to do than the knock down chemicals, the market pays more than three times more for the avocado compared to what the farmers earn in Kenya.

Agronomist Wycliffe Obwoge says the option of using chemicals is a ‘knock-down’ last resort that lowers the penetration into more lucrative markets.

One of the common pests is the false codling moth larva that drills into the fruit flesh before reaching the core. Under heavy infestation, the larvae can cause up to 90 per cent losses.

Bagging the individual fruit is the most effective way of controlling the pest although tedious and time consuming, the agronomist said.

Bagging stops pests like the false cold month from laying eggs on the maturing fruits.

“Protecting these fruits against pests is the start of recovering the investment and making profits. Now that more companies are exporting the fruit to the EU instead of the rational Middle East markets, limiting the chemical use is the key,” he said.

Common avocado varieties like has and fuerte are short and, therefore, reachable from ground standing heights or stepping on stools.

Affected fruits have to be buried in holes of more than two feet or enclosed on polythene bags to and placed under direct sunlight to die.

READ ALDO:Europe avocado demand to benefit Kenyans until August

An avocado of about 500g costs between Sh20 and Sh30 in Nairobi.

But when the brokers who bring the fruit to the city buy from farmers, they do so at price less than Sh5.

Avocado harvesting season starts in March and runs until September. Whilst hass matures from May, fuerte is ready for harvesting from March.

More than 115 metric tonnes of avocados are produced each year, with small-holder farmers accounting for about 70 per cent.

In 2016, shipping companies introduced CA equipment that extend the shelf-life of the avocados from seven five days to about six weeks.

With this development, shipping avocado from Mombasa to EU, which was limited, was made possible because the fruit arrives in the market while in good shape and still raw. Extracts from neem tree are also important noncommercial chemical effectively controlling the cold month and other pests.

The cold moth is an important pest that also attacks more than 14 fruit varieties.

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