Linking farmers’ hubs to potential buyers to enhance inclusive growth Established in 2019, Gakiuma Hub located in Tharaka Nithi County serves 507 farmers from three main groups. Before the formation of the hub, members had pre-production and post-harvest challenges. They could not access quality seeds to plant and this factor dwindled their harvests by a greater margin. “Farmers used to smear a mixture of cow…
When farmers adopt new techniques, production multiplies Sorghum and Green grams farming is a tradition in Makueni that dates back. Amuka hub from Makueni County in Eastern region Kenya has been growing Sorghum and green grams for many years. But traditional farming practices were not resulting in good yields. Amuka hub members planted sorghum, green grams and other cereals on their fields, and they did…
Farmers Experience Increased Revenue through Sorghum Farming As Purity Njeru walks through one of her farm in Tharaka South Sub County, Tunyai Location, Tharaka Nithi County, she points to the bounty of growing sorghum. “I have practiced farming for several years now, to be precise over 20 years. Farming is what I do for life. It is what I eat, drink and use to raise…
Linking farmers’ hubs to potential buyers to enhance inclusive growth Established in 2019, Gakiuma Hub located in Tharaka Nithi County serves 507 farmers from three main groups. Before the formation of the hub, members had pre-production and post-harvest challenges. They could not access quality seeds to plant and this factor dwindled their harvests by a greater margin. “Farmers used to smear a mixture of cow…
Growers trained to improve production, connect to markets, increase sales Tabitha Kilonzo, a 57-year-old mother of five, is one of the 255 members of the Kwa Mikuyu CBO Hub who grow sufficiently high quality sorghum and green grams to meet market standards, thanks to Cereal Growers Association (CGA) training, which began in 2018. Tabitha has seen her harvest increase since the intervention of CGA’s Cereal…
Good agricultural practices increase yield and Income Boniface Mutua Mbiti is a 48 year-old father of four children and a member of the Amuka Hub in Masue location, Makueni Sub-County, Makueni County. He earns most of his income from growing Sorghum and green grams on his 5 acre piece of land. He decided to venture into farming to help support his family. “I used to…
For a long period of time, Kenya has depended on cereals like maize, sorghum and millet as a principle staple food. Household diets hugely rely on cereals as a main carbohydrate and starch source. In the recent past, production of this important crops has been hampered by factors including poor farming practices, non-use of quality inputs etc. In 2016, the Fall Army Worm emerged as…
Mid-June this year, President Uhuru Kenyatta assented into law the Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) Bill 2017. The WRS act will provide a legal framework for the development and regulation of a WRS to address marketing challenges associated with the grain sub-sector. The WRS is defined as “part of the whole of the process of depositing commodities in a licensed warehouse, the issuance of a warehouse receipt…
By Ann Macharia Agriculture is among the main pillars of our economy; it contributes to 27 percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 65 percent of our total export earnings. The increasing human population has resulted in a decrease in the land to cultivate; this has led to scarcity especially due to real estate’s development. This, therefore, demands an increase in production per unit…
By Dr. James Mutegi Legumes are the most important household crops, especially in the drier areas. On average, farmers harvest less than a tonne per hectare while the potential for most legume producing regions could go up to 3.5 tonnes. Legumes require nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, sulphur and non-acidic soils. On average, a hectare of most common legumes will take up about 150kg of nitrogen,…
