Jael Ochanji in her sweet potato farm at Kabondo in Homa Bay County. Photo courtesy.

In 2015, Jael Ochanji took the risk of resigning from Brookside Dairy Limited as a sales representative within Nairobi region, a job which was earning her between Sh50,000 and Sh100,000 a month to join her mother in sweet potato farming, a venture which is currently earning her Sh150,000-200,000 an acre.

Before relocating to Kabondo in Homa Bay County from Nairobi, the single mother with two daughters and a marketing graduate from Nairobi Institute of Business Studies became resourceful in connecting her mother with key markets in the city where she could supply the produce weekly.

“Other than preparing to move the whole family back home, I had a great task of looking for customers and well-paying markets that we would fetch better returns,” said Jael.

By the time she was migrating to Homa Bay in 2017 she had secured a weekly sweet potato supply tender from Uchumi Supermarkets Ltd to deliver the produce.

Unfortunately, soon after settling at home her mother got ill and could no longer actively operate the 20 acres farm where the sweet potatoes are produced under irrigation. This meant that Jael was to sit at the helm of Kenya Sweet Potato Company which had been started by the mother to grow yellow and white fleshed sweet potato varieties for both the tubers and vines.

“I did not find it difficult to fit in my mother’s shoes because since our childhood, our parents especially our mother engaged us in farm activities and since then I developed deep interest in sweet potato farming which has been the family’s  favourite commercial crop,” said Jael.

“Though I have become the face of this enterprise, I also have a brother and a sister who gives support from time to time if need be hence they have become more or less like partners.”

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Now three years down the line, the company has acquired more acres under sweet potato tubers and vines production from the initial 20 to 35 spread in different areas within Kabondo.

She has mastered the production of the crop spreading her planting time to ensure steady harvesting throughout the year saying that the two varieties that she has been growing have good market demand.

Before planting the vines, she makes ridges or mounds which helps in conserving soil moisture, reducing soil erosion, making harvesting easier and improving yields.

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She grows her crops organically using livestock manure as most farms in the area are still fertile hence do not need much fertility boost.

“Kabondo is well known for fertile soil as the area is at the foot of Kisii highlands and besides we receive rainfall almost throughout the year making our production all year round,” said Jael.

Sweet potatoes have a short maturity period of 3-7 months and because of its short duration, it is very strategic for addressing food insecurity.

However, according to Jael, most of the crop consumed locally are imported from either Uganda or Tanzania as local farmers who are majorly smallholders cannot produce enough especially during dry seasons.

“Fortunately Kenyan consumers love our home-grown yellow and white sweet potatoes for food because they are tasty, rich in nutrients and they do not become soggy when cooked like other varieties,” said Jael.

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She harvests her produce throughout the year and transport up to 80 sacks of sweet potatoes weighing 80kg per sack preferably to Nairobi’s Wakulima Market since Uchumi suspended the tender following the retail chain’s sorry state while the rural markets offer lower discouraging prices.

“I stopped supplying to Uchumi early last year as the supermarket has been doing badly. Rural open air markets on the other hand offer low prices as seemingly every homestead has a sweet potato farm,” she said.

In Nairobi, she sells the 80kg sack at Sh3,500 minimum but during high demand the price can shoot up to Sh7,000 a bag while in rural markets in the region the same bag can fetch as low as Sh1,500.

This means that in a week Jael can earn up to sh280,000 during low demand and Sh560,000 in high demand selling in Nairobi.

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Her expenses on planting, weeding and harvesting cost Sh6,000 each which she pays to hired casual labourers while transporting a bag of sweet potato to Nairobi costs Sh500 each.

She also sells an average of seven bags of sweet potato vines at Sh1,500 per week to farmers from every part of the country who reach her online through the company’s website and Facebook page.

Her future plan is to put up a sweet potato processing plant to process different products and enable her and other farmers from the region access direct market to their produce.

Jael can be reached on +254 726 689806

Farmers rearing pigs can reduce the cost of production by a substantial percentage through adopting home-made feeds using readily available raw materials such as sweet potato vines which were formerly trashed after the harvesting of the tubers.

According to a 2017 research on the importance of sweet potato in small-scale farming systems in Uganda by Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), sweet potato residues (peels, vines and non-commercial roots) are a major feed resource for pigs and are a cheap source of energy (roots) and protein (vines). Sweetpotato residues may be fed fresh, dried or ensiled. Proper conservation of sweet potato residues can help address the scarcity of nutrient feeds during periods of scarcity in prolonged dry seasons.

Pig feeding is the most expensive activity in pig rearing because it takes up to 80 per cent of the total recurrent budget of raising a pig from birth to market weight. There are several types of pig feed concentrates in used in the country today. These include Starter feed, Grower Feed, Sow and weaner feed, and pig finisher feed.

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Pigs are fed with these feeds depending on their age, Piglets require starter meal from one week to three months, and it is recommended that they are fed am always-ready diet that they may have continuous access to feed for a steady growth from the start.

Initially they eat very little but as they grow feed should be increased at an approximate rate of 50 grams per week and by the time they are three months old, each will be requiring about one kg of feed per day.

Rate of feed increase should be sustained all the way and by four months each pig would require about 2kg of pig growers feed per day. By the time they are four and half months a well growing pig requires about three kg of feed per day of Pig finisher in preparation for market at between 6 and 7months on average.

Water is of great importance for growing pigs and so should always be available for the animals as they grow otherwise they will not be able to feed properly hence growth rate will be affected.

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New technology

A new technology has been introduced in Kenya where pigs can be fed with sweet potato silage from three months old. It is still at the trial stage in Kenya but has been in use in the Far East and has been found to work.

This is used to complement the normal ration of the pigs such that they grow fast. Pigs should be fed on this silage to fill their stomachs so that they do not feel the pangs of hunger, hence will no spend any body reserves.

Sweet potato silage is actually fermented vines and roots for a minimum of three weeks. Fermentation process helps to break down trypsin enzyme found in fresh vines and inhibits digestibility of fresh vines when fed fresh.

Procedure of the sweet potato silage Making.

-Harvest the vines and the roots from the farm.

-Chop the vines in to small pieces about 2 to 3 inches long

-Chop the roots to small chips.

-Mix the chopped vines and roots in a ratio of 3:1.

-Wet the mixture with molasses diluted in a ratio of 1:10.

-Add some salt at 0.05 per cent.

-Pack the mixture in air tight containers either plastic bags of plastic containers

-Compress the material completely to ensure that all air is expelled out.

-Store for a minimum of three weeks

-0Open and start feeding your pigs

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However, farmers should note that this does not completely replace commercial feeds, it only enhances the pigs’ growth rate hence one sells his pigs faster as it is taken to be a snack.

Other products that can be used as snacks for pigs includes pig weed (amaranth), lucerne, kales, spinach, ripe avocado pawpaw and other fruits and other soft plants full of proteins.

Pigs also enjoy the food eaten by people and are recommended that what a person eats cooked, give it to pigs cooked, and vice versa.

Photo1 caption: A farmer chopping sweet potato vines using a motorized forage chopper.

photo2 caption: Pigs feeding on fresh sweet potato leaves and vines.