Smart farms

: 15 March 2018; Hits: 15613

Farmers double yields with official seeds

Some 1376 farmers in Siaya have increased their income 29 times from Sh2.02m to Sh58.95m after adopting use of certified seeds from the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization.

As a result of farmers’ involvement and proper planning, groundnut productivity has increased from 42.1 tonnes in 2010 to 330 tonnes in 2017. There has also been an improvement from about a quarter to one acre of cultivation of the crop per farmer and improvement of yields per acre from 150kg to 450kgs.

Groundnuts earn Mpeketoni farmer Sh320,000 in three months

Value addition earns double cash for groundnuts trader

Initially, farmers in the region produced three– 90kg bags per acre of shelled groundnuts compared to six- 90kg bags per acre, its potential, according to a baseline survey by the Kenya Agricultural Productivity Project (KAPAP). The low production was attributed to use of recycled seeds from harvested grains instead of certified high yielding, disease tolerant seed varieties.

From 2010 to 2015, KAPAP through its county service unit for Siaya created awareness and mobilized farmers from 20 locations out of the 54 in the county. The farmers identified groundnuts as a priority which required urgent intervention; this led to formation of common interest groups in the locations who developed business plans for implementation by the farmers.

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A farmer selling peanut butter at a past agricultural show in the past/PHOTO/FILE

The farmers through their groups were trained on improved planting materials. To increase the volume of seeds, exemplary farmers were identified to engage in bulking seed which they then sold to their peers.

At the outset, farmers in the region did little to transform their produce after harvesting of their crops. They sold it raw and the area under production per farmer was small ranging between a quarter to two acres which was not ideal for agribusiness.

The famers produce peanut products for sale including queens’ peanut butter, roasted nut bites and raw peanut flour for sale after donation of a peanut processing equipment by the Kenya Agricultural Productivity Project (KAPAP).

Using the peanut processing machine, the farmers process their produce and are currently selling more than 50 pieces of 400g packs to various hotels within Kisumu through Siaya nut cooperative society at Sh550 each.

Some of the challenges faced by the farmers include inadequate seed supply and lack of viable equipment to facilitate post-harvest operations.

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: 15 March 2018; Hits: 11105

Government gives free chicks to women moving them from illicit brewers to chicken keepers

The ‘Inua Mama na Kuku Initiative’ which was introduced by Uasin Gishu County government four years ago has transformed the lives of hundreds of women in the grassroots of the county.

Techgaa, a group of reformed brewers, is one of the more than 300 women groups that has benefited from the project and now earns approximately Sh25,000 in a week from chicken sales to hotels such as Silveline within Eldoret town.

Sally Tanui, the Chairlady of Techgaa women group in Ainabkoi constituency says most of the women in her group depended on illicit brews as their source of income but the long arm of the law often caught up with them.

Broiler farm to bridge poultry products shortfall

The multistoreyed poultry farm attracting international visitors

After frequent rubbing of shoulders with the authority, the brewers were motivated by a non-governmental organization called ADAPT (Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment) who reached out to them in 2015 and asked them to consider their lives and the future of their children.

“Since we only rehabilitate alcoholics and brewers, we had no funds to help the women earn a sustainable income other than ‘chang’aa’ brewing so we approached the Uasin Gishu County government who provided 150 free chicks to the group in 2015” said Julia Kosgei, a coordinator at ADAPT.

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To ensure the chicks were well taken care of, Sally notes that they made a timetable to feed the young chicken on rotation basis with two women taking responsibility per day. They fed the chicks on chicks mash at the rate of 30-50 g per day per bird. When the birds were five to eight weeks, they were fed on growers mash (50 to 100 g per day).

“I used to brew alcohol and I could get a lot of disturbance from all over including the police, we also had a lot of problems dealing with drunkards who made our lives really hard. But since we started this group, we have abandoned the brewing business and concentrated on polutry keeping and our lives are now much better due to income from the sale of chicken” said Esther Jepkinyor, a member of Techgaa women group.

The group now has more than 1,200 chickens which they sell to hotels within Eldoret town. The high demand for indigenous chicken in the market has ensured Techgaa has constant source of market for their birds. The group sells day old chicks at Sh100 ,one month old at Sh300 and two months old at Sh400, fully mature chicken goes for not less than Sh1000.

In a week the group sells about 30 chicken earning between Sh25,000 to Sh30,000.

The profits from the business have enabled the women maintain sustainable income and they no longer depend on their husbands. Their lives are at peace, children in school and they no longer fear arrest by the police.

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: 15 March 2018; Hits: 15665

Government finds machine to produce twice the pyrethrum from farmers' plants

Pyrethrum flowers

Over 200,000 pyrethrum farmers are set to benefit from Sh200m that the government has pledged to allocate for the pyrethrum sector for its revival having faced many challenges in the past years.

Until the late 1990s Pyrethrum farming in Kenya was highly profitable, and by the time the sector started ailing, the crop had been cultivated in Kenya for close to 60 years making Kenya the largest producer of the crop in the world, yielding more than 70 per cent of all cultivated pyrethrum according to the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya (PBK) statistics.

Now the government is keen to get back pyrethrum production to its glory in order to uplift farmers’ fortunes again through its budget allocation in this financial year.

“The money will be factored in the 2018-2019 budget, to boost the initiative launched in 18 pyrethrum-growing counties by various pyrethrumstakeholders,” said Deputy Presdent William Ruto in Njoro after attending a Sunday service at African Inland Church.

Nakuru County has been in the foe front in reviving the sector with Pyrethrum Processing Company of Kenya acquiring a modern extraction machine for its Nakuru factory last month.

The factory has been idle due to lack of raw materials. During its peak, it received flowers from 200,000 farmers. But the number drastically fell to 6,000 farmers.

"The revival plan is on top gear and already farmers have gone back to their farms to start planting," said Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui.

Farmers moved away from the crop after PBK got inundated with reports of massive corruption, leading to delayed payments. In 2008, KSh3billion was siphoned from the Board, and farmers went unpaid for months.

In the same year, the PBK lost valuable assets including 850 acres of land, which was sold at KSh33million, although it was valued at KSh1.6b at the time.

Earlier, the PBK factory in Nakuru had caught fire and extensive damage was reported. However, the company had taken an insurance policy, which yielded KSh300million in compensation.

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A new plant, with modern machines would have cost KSh100m, but by the time the KSh300m was reported finished, the old machines, which had been put up for restoration, were not working and the officials were appealing for Sh150m more to get the job done.

Today, the amount of pyrethrum being produced in Kenya stands at 250 tonnes only, the industry having recorded a 98 percent drop in production in eight years. Kenya currently produces less than 2 percent of world pyrethrum.

Since 2003, the world has suffered an acute shortage of pyrethrum as a direct consequence of Kenya’s failings in pyrethrum production. This could mean that farmers can get more should the sector be jumpstarted again.

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To get Kenyan farmers interested in the crop again, Justus Monda, the chairman of the Pyrethrum Growers Association of Kenya, suggests that a committed effort be made towards giving farmers the needed capital.

“An acre of pyrethrum will cost a farmer KSh35,000 to plant, with KSh22,000 going to the purchase of seedlings and the rest for inputs and associated production costs,” said Monda.

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