Smart farms

: 14 May 2018; Hits: 32347

Youth turns beekeeping hobby into a Sh700,000 agribusiness venture

Ezekiel Mumo with Martin Wambora beekeeping

Ezekiel Mumo, in a T-shirt explaining to visitors at their stand lead by Embu governor, HE. Martin Wambora during the county's investors conference last month. Photo courtecy.

Ezekiel Mumo, 25, who used to keep bees just for fun while still young unaware of the insects’ economic value has eventually converted the hobby into a lucrative agribusiness practice which is now earning him about Sh700,000 annually.

At his tender age he used to see his grandfather and uncles practice beekeeping and he could assist them in the work after school or during holidays until he became used to it as he loved bees and was curious to learn and know more about them.

“I started bee keeping at the age of 10, my grandfather had hives and due to curiosity I would accompany my uncles as they went to set the hives and during harvesting among other activities,” said Mumo.

He is now a well-known beekeeper in the village he comes from, back in Masinga, Machakos County. He set his first apiary in 2015 while he was still in secondary school and would harvest the honey during school holidays and then sell it to a neighbour, who would buy a 20-litre bucket of the stuff for Sh15, 000.

This money he used to pay his school fees, as his pocked money, and help his parents meet other family expenses.

Currently Mumo runs an apiary of 26 beehives which seats on a two hectare family land in Masinga and Kithyoko in Machakos County.

Mumo has four seasons of harvesting every year. “I do harvesting four times a year, in a season I can harvest up to 200 kilograms of honey giving me between 800 and 1000 kilograms of honey per year.

He sells a kilo of honey at Sh700 to retailers, local shops, and individuals who make orders of up to 50 Kilos of honey.

Due to his consistency in business and the value of his produce, he also get new customers through referrals by his loyal buyers.

Mumo is now in his fourth and final year at Multimedia University where he is pursuing Bachelor in Business Information Technology and he could have been through with the studies this May if it were not the lecturers’ strike taking place in the country at the moment.

“I was planning to finish my studies this month but since lecturers went on strike our studies have been affected and we may be force to wait longer finish our programmes and graduate,” said Mumo.

Beekeeping venture shields farmer from weather vagaries

With about ten years of experience in the venture, he is also selling beekeeping equipment besides inspecting other clients’ hives especially during time off school.

“Beekeeping is something I started long ago even before campus, and if you do something for quite long time you gain interest in it, I love apiculture so much, because it has given me a good platform for championing for food security and also environment conservation,” said Mumo.

ezekiel mumo

Ezekiel Mumo demonstrating to farmer on how to wear a bee suit, to avoid stings during a training organised by World Vision (vision Fund) at machakos, Kabaa. he trains farmers to equip them with the skills and knowledge on how to use the bee keeping equipment. Photo courtecy.

In addition, he has since secured a job with Bee Care Apiaries International Ltd, a buyers and marketers of all bee products with global market links.

“The company took me for two-months training in Nairobi and Kisumu where I got the opportunity to interact with both small and large-scale beekeepers as I visited their farms.”

After the training, the company offered him a job as head of the technical team. My work in the firm involves teaching farmers what I know and I was trained about beekeeping and selling beekeeping equipment such as honey extractors and beehives among others.”

Mumo can be reached on +254 712 611207

Write comment (6 Comments)

Thursday, 27 May 2021 [quote=Davis Awili]Wonderful brother,I m also interested in the business.[/quote...

Wednesday, 19 May 2021 Wonderful brother,I m also interested in the business.

Tuesday, 20 April 2021 Hi Mumo am a beekeeping expert with plus 20 years working with bees and rural li...

Sunday, 28 March 2021 Nice inspiration

Friday, 05 March 2021 You have motivated me alot ...I needed a type of farming which I can control mi...

: 11 May 2018; Hits: 18369

Form two dropout earns Sh3000 daily from banana value addition

Afros Ochieng Otieno dropped out of school in form two at Nyamusi Boys school due to lack of school fees in 2001 and was forced to do casual jobs such as weeding people’s farms for thirteen years.

In July 2014, however, he and nine other friends started a self-help group to add value to bananas, a venture that is earning him Sh3,000 in profits daily.

The group converts banana fingers into flour for baking bread, cakes ansd dough nuts.

Besides, Ochieng converts banana peels which are usually dumped as waste into a fine medicinal powder that can be used to treat ulcers.

The rise and rise of banana farming in Kenya

FAO sounds the alarm on world’s most destructive banana disease

Ochieng’s business is based in Nyamusi division, Nyamira. The county is one of the banana growing regions in Kenya besides Meru, Kisii, Tharaka Nithi, Kakamega, Murang’a, Embu, Kirinyaga, Bungoma and Kericho.

From 2001 to 2006, Ochieng worked as a casual laborer in Nairobi earning Sh100 daily mixing concrete and cement at construction sites in various regions within the city.

In August 2006, he was frustrated at doing the manual jobs due to low income and decided to go back home where he started working on his neighbors’ farms weeding crops such as maize and bananas, a venture that earned him between Sh150 to Sh200 per day.

In July 2014, Ochieng and nine of his friends formed Misire Afmago Self Help Group with each member contributing Sh100 as initial capital investment that went towards purchasing of banana bunches.

The group was lucky to receive a grinding machine from World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization to help them grind the bananas into fine flour.

To promote members’ welfare, the group led by Ochieng as the chair, buys bananas from members at between Sh200 to Sh500 per bunch depending on the size.

“After buying of bananas, we usually peel them and dry them in the sun for two to three days depending on the weather conditions,” said Ochieng.

After drying, it is grinded into fine flour using the grinding machine.

The banana flour is then mixed with wheat flour at the rate of 20 to 80 per cent then added with water, baking sugar, yeast, salt and softening fat and used to make bread, buns and scones.

Afros Ochieng

Afros Ochieng with a banana bread. Photo: Courtesy

“A two kilogram packet of banana flour for instance produces up to seven, 400g breads which is an equivalent of 60 buns or 60 scones,” said Ochieng.

Ochieng says the demand for buns and scones is high within Nyamusi and as such they make more buns and scones in a day compared to bread.

The group depends on orders made by shops and retailers within Nyamusi and towns such as Kisii.

On a good day they sell more than five crates of bread at Sh40 per piece translating to Sh4800.

They make up to 600 buns and scones in a day earning which they sell at Sh20 for every three pieces. They however, charge less for primary and secondary school students with each bun selling at five shillings.

The group’s entry into the powder business from banana peels was informed by multiple online researches showing that it prevents drug induced ulcers.

According to Greenmedinfo, an online medical journal, the powder controls stomach lining corrosion resulting from asprin, indomethacin, phenylbutazone, cysteamine, histamine, among other drugs. The potassium element in the powder strengthens corrosion resistance of the stomach mucous layer besides promoting healing by inducing cellular growth in affected areas.

Peels from a 30 kg banana can give five to six kilos of the dry powder. One kilo of the powder fetches Sh300 at wholesale.

The same banana, if sold for plantain or ripe fruits, earns between Sh250 and Sh500 in Kisii and Nyamira and about Sh500 in cities such as Nairobi.

The only additive to the powder is sodium sulphate, which helps in maintaining the green power or white flour colors.

“It takes one to two days to dry the peels. The process reduces the moisture content to less than 10 per cent. Low moisture content limits growth of poisonous moulds and increases the shelf-life of the two products,” he said.

Converting the 30 kilos of raw banana into flour gives four kilos, which fetch Sh900 when sold raw.

Banana peels have about 20 per cent vitamin B-6, which helps the body in converting food into energy, therefore lowering diabetes risks.

Tuskys Supermarket is one of the outlets selling the powder.

“To Kisii town alone, we supply between 75 kilos and 100 kilos per week,” said Ochieng.

Write comment (0 Comments)

: 11 May 2018; Hits: 14197

Urban residents can reduce cost of living by using vertical bags to grow food

People living in urban areas can reduce the cost of buying food by half if they use vertical bags to grow vegetables all year round in their backyard gardens or roof tops.

According to a report released by global market research and consulting firm Ipsos Synovate in March this year, the high cost of living (35 per cent) and hunger (14 per cent) are some of the most critical issues facing Kenyans besides the rate of unemployment (39.1 per cent).

A survey by Nation Newsplex in 2016 revealed that for every Sh100 spent by a Kenyan, Sh45 goes towards purchasing food and drinks.

A majority of Kenyans in urban areas (56 per cent) buy food from supermarkets compared to 35 per cent who but from kiosks and groceries according to a survey releases by mobile phone pollster Geopoll in 2015.

All is not yet lost as many urban residents can embrace urban farming that enables them to utilize the small space available due to limited land. Using shade net bags to grow crops minimizes land and water use.

Milk processing plant takes urban dwellers back to farms

City families fight biting food shortage with urban gardens

Real impact is a Thika based non-governmental organization that helps farmers adopt modern farming techniques especially now that land is becoming smaller and smaller. According to the farm manager, Julia Laitore, the technology of using net bags to grow crops can help meet current and future demands of food in Kenya and beyond.

“We help farmers adopt new farming technologies so as to enable them sustain their production, many people are moving to urban areas to look for jobs and the demand for vegetables is really high” says Julia.

The NGO came up with new technologies of growing vegetables and breeding animals in a small scale way whereby big land is not required.

“At our farm here, we plant our vegetables in bag gardening where one bag, 1 meter long is used to plant 100 plants vertically at a go, with only 20 liters of water to being used to irrigate one bag holding the plants per week” said Julia. The bags are available in large and medium sizes.

vertical bag

With this technology, farmers are assured of fresh vegetables all year round by planting in sacks/bags. A single person can cater for 100 bags watering them thrice a week. The process needs no weeding. A farmer can also plant different crops in one bag to reduce the chance of pest invasion. This method can be adopted by the elderly as it not labor intensive.

Sack nets last longer than the normal ones that rot easily. One sack has a lifespan of ten years and uses little water on drip irrigation with minimal labor required.

Procedure for vertical bag farming using bags

Mix the soil and manure. Add 3kg of DAP and lime to the mixture. Thoroughly mix the bag ingredients.

Spread the bag to identify the top, bottom and outer sections. Turn the bag inside out and gather it in the middle part of the bottom part. Place the bag on the ground right side oout and start filling the bag with the mixed media.

Ensure you have a stable base at the bottom and that all holes are visible. Continue filling your bag until you have a well filled upright bag. Wet the bag with 30 liters of water and start planting on the sides of the bag. Place the curled section of the 16 mm riser pipe fitted with button drippers on the top of your bag.

You can plant leeks, coriander, lettuce, carrots, kales, tomatoes, e.tc. On the top section and you have your very own bag garden?

All urban dwellers can try this type of farming as it does not only utilizes space but also minimizes malnutrition by ensuring families are on a balanced diet.

Julia advises farmers to plant different types of vegetables in their farms as each specific vegetable has its own nutrition value.

Write comment (0 Comments)