Biogas as a Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Practice
Bukon Farm Systems, a social enterprise operating in Gem Sub County, Siaya County by Onono Cleophas Oduor as the director seeks to improve smallholder farmer’s livelihood through provision of warehousing and value addition services. This is done by aggregating the farmers produce after harvesting and thereafter selling the produce when the prices are friendly. The consultancy also provides farm inputs to farmers at favorable prices.
With the support of Farm to Market Alliance (FtMA), Bukon Farm Systems have been linked with suppliers that supply farm inputs at good prices. The firm also trains farmers on technologies that improve soil fertility such as composting, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM). Further, the firm provides publicity for smallholder farmer’s information and knowledge acquired over time from their farming experience at the grassroots by sharing their successes, failures and lessons leant on various platforms.
In his own words, Cleophas shares, “Farming, to me, is a passion driven activity. I grew up in a farming family, and after years away pursuing education and international employment, I felt a calling to return and make a difference.” Cleophas left an international job to go back to the society and impact the community through farming by replicating the best farming practices he has learnt through his 30-year career. “One of the challenges among smallholder farmers is over-dependence on rain-fed agriculture. They also do not farm high value crops,” posits Cleophas. Over-reliance on particular crops such as maize and beans greatly reduces farmers yield. The depletion of the soil has made the soil to remain bare affecting the productivity of the farms. Therefore, the effects of climate change have been adverse and farmers have been hit hard.
“Vermicompost and conventional composting has proved to increase soil fertility. Scientific evidence shows compost has advantages because it is done with locally available materials which are cost-effective. Composting is marketable because people today prefer organically grown crops,” explains Cleophas. To address Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA), Bukon Farm Systems has been at the forefront to promote sustainable CSA practices such as composting which is affordable, cheaper and environmentally friendly. The use of cover crops is another technology that is being propagated among smallholder farmers, the use of Mucuna and Canavalia offers permanent soil cover that avoids direct sunlight from picking volatile soil elements and dehydrating the soil. The use of sweet potatoes, apart from being food, also serves as a permanent soil cover.
The other technology is the use of simple implements that do minimum damage to the soil. This is achieved by using shallow weeders and shaka jembes that are used in planting when using permanent soil cover technologies. Cross lock barrier technology ensures there is avoidance of surface run-offs and a leveling board to measure where the various barriers are put. Cleophas is glad the uptake of CSA technologies and practices by farmers is growing and the results are immense. For example, from a 10 by 10 square piece of land, maize was planted for three seasons and the kilograms have increased from 6kgs, 7.2kgs to 8kgs. This is an indication the technology is productive. This translates to good income and nutrition to farmers.
Cleophas notes, “Our productivity has increased by about 40%. With FtMA’s support, we have been connected with suppliers for affordable farm inputs, further reducing costs for farmers.” The success did not stop at increased harvests; it extended to the community level. Bukon Farm Systems have been trained by Bayer and SIDCO on the various products these companies have in the market hence enabling Bukon Farm Systems to offer productive services to smallholder farmers. “Farmers productivity has increased to about 40%. This means by continuing to promote CSA technology and practices among farmers, the transition rate will grow high. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) technology is sustainable and less harmful to the soil and offers better benefits for the crops planted. The advantages of IPM, such as the push-pull, are that it is less costly and more sustainable among farmers because a farmer can use it over a long period of time. This translates to the socio-economic development of the smallholder farmers.
“My hope is to see widespread adoption of sustainable practices, making smallholder farmers resilient to the challenges of climate change. I want to witness a thriving farming community with sustainable practices at its core,” claims Cleophas.