ISSUE 047, Sept 16 - Sept 30, 2011
Woman helps residents ensure food security By EUTYCAS MUCHIRI As others spend their weekends and vacations resting or attending to domestic chores at home, the situation is different with a 40-year-old woman from Mukurwe-ini District, Nyeri County. Lucy Njeri from Thiha Sub-location uses her time to boost food security in her home area, travelling from Othaya where she works as a District Crops Officer to Mukurwe-ini to offer technical advice to residents free of charge. Njeri started the voluntary work in 2009 through churches, advising them to form a group to enable her assist them easily. She first approached Redeemed Gospel, Gospel Outreach and End Time Message churches among others who formed a group that they named The Redeemed Agricultural Entrepreneurs (TRAE) Self Help Group. She trained them on how to propagate yam seedlings using a method known as minisett technology and the multiplying of sweet potato vines population. The group sells the prepared planting materials to locals. Njeri not only teaches the group members but also individuals willing to undertake the projects. This knowledge was taught to her by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) in Embu during a training of trainers workshop.
Farmers want government to protect their harvests By ERIC MUTAI
Variety
“We were trained on how to propagate yams through the Minisett Technique as well as propagating and adding value to orange fleshed sweet potatoes which are rich in vitamin A,” explains Njeri. The group has managed to propagate and sell over 100,000 sweat potato vines to locals and thousands of yams seedlings at reduced prices in less than two years. It aims to raise 10,000 yam seedlings through Minisett Technique within one year. The group owns a variety of sweet potato vines which include Nars pot, Tainung, SPK 004, Bungoma and Kembu 10 all of which take about three to four months to mature. A single variety can yield a harvest of about 80-90 bags per acre. A vine goes for two shillings. They have earned over KSh200,000 through sale of seedlings. “My objective is to see farmers make flour out of yams and sweat potato tubers which can be stored for a long time than the fresh harvested roots. The flour can cushion them from hunger during dry spells, while the surplus can be packed and sold in supermarkets,” she explains. Njeri argues that campaigning for the revival of root crops is the only sure way to fight hunger in Nyeri County. To propagate yams through the technique, one needs a mature flesh yam unlike the traditional way where bones are used. Yams propagated traditionally take about two years to break dormancy and germinate, while those grown using the technique take two months.
Members of the Trae self help group work in one of their sweet potato farms. Below: Lucy Njeri inspects some tomato plants in Margaret Muthoni’s green house in Mukurwe-ini. Pictures: Eutycas Muchiri five years during which she will have earned about KSh800,000. The improvised green house cost her KSh65,000, which is about half the cost of the recommended green house. This is done by using tree posts and rafters to substitute metal ones. It also uses strings which are cheaper compared to wires. Elizabeth Wanjiku, is also expecting to start harvesting soon. She uses bucket irrigation to water plants because currently she cannot afford to install drip irrigation. However, she is confident that they will be in a position to use it in future after selling their produce.
Process
The fleshed yam is kept in a dark place for a month to break dormancy after which it is sliced and dissected into small sizes of about two inches. The pieces are then planted in a nursery. According to Njeri, this method is not expensive and multiplies the yam population very fast. A nursery of about one square metre can hold about 100 minisetts. A medium size yam of about a kilo is capable of producing 30 to 40 minisetts. An acre of yam, therefore, can produce seedlings for tens of acres. While in the traditional method only one to two bones per plant can be attained. The new method is, therefore, ideal for farmers who would like to commercialise yam farming as bones can not be relied on. “Bones are scarce and take long to grow to maturity. This is a problem because young farmers are not patient. Both yams and sweat potatoes are drought resistant and are not susceptible to diseases and pests that attack other types of food crops,” observes Njeri. If taken care of properly, a single yam plant can produce 40 kilogrammes of yield. A kilogramme sells at KSh100 which translates to about KSh4,000 in returns per plant. A yam
13
Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth
Affordable material
takes about one and a half year to mature. After the success of the two root crops, Njeri has now introduced the use of simple green house farming. About five farmers already own green houses with about 500 stems of tomato plants according to Simon Gikunju, chairman Trae Self Help Group. Some of the tomatoes have matured and are now generating income for farmers while others are about to mature. One of the famers. Margaret Muthoni, 50, is optimistic that she will make 10 kilos per plant, which will add up to over KSh100,000 worth of harvest. “I am optimistic that by the end of the season, I will earn a good sum of money that is not less than KSh100,000. The tomatoes are already carrying healthy fruits and are still flowering,” explains Muthoni. She expects the green house to last for about
Njeri advises other farmers not to shy off if they have trees in their farm for posts and rafters and can afford an ultra treated polythene paper. She is ready to offer technical assistance to any willing farmer. “If farmers have trees for production of posts and rafters and can manage to buy quality ultra treated polythene paper, they should not shy off from constructing green houses,” explains Njeri. She observes: “However they should be wary of second hand polythene sheets being sold by cons as these can frustrate them. They cannot survive the five years as expected.” Central Provincial Director of Agriculture Joseph Gachingiri is among senior agricultural officials who praised the work done by Trae self help group. “They are playing a pivotal role in the fight against hunger in the County,” observed Gachingiri. Last year, he catered for transport for two of the group’s members from Mukurwe-ini to Kabiru-ini show grounds in Nyeri where they showcased their farming techniques.
Farmers in Eastern Province want the Government to establish food storage facilities to help in the fight against hunger. The farmers who spoke to the Reject said lack of facilities has led to post harvest losses to weevils and aflatoxin. “We were lucky to receive rains in the area and although the yields are not promising, I have to sell my grains at cheap prices to traders to enable me purchase other commodities,” explained Martin Njagi. He said lack of storage facilities and increased cost of living is pushing peasants to poverty adding that farmers may not be able to afford the foodstuff later. Embu West District Commissioner Maalim Mohamed discouraged farmers from selling their meagre harvests saying that a lot of cereal buyers will be invading the area for the maize and beans. The farmers are harvesting their beans as the Embu and Meru regions received rains and are now harvesting as drought ravages the lower and upper parts of the province. Sara Marigu called on the Government to monitor its agricultural programmes to conclusion saying that most of them are left halfway done. “When the Ministry of Agriculture brought the farmers inputs, there was a bumper harvest but the Government did not see to it that the harvested grains were properly stored,” Marigu said adding that most of the grains were lost to weevils.
Involvement
Marigu said religious organisations, the provincial administration and all other ministries related to food production should be involved for a long term solution to food shortages. Last season most parts of the province experienced low rains which resulted in only about 1.7 bags of maize being harvested as opposed to the projected 2.9 million bags. Agriculture officials have warned that if the poor weather condition prevails, then a much more reduced crop yield will be experienced in the coming season. They called for proper plans on water harvesting for irrigation purposes as a long term measure noting that the Government must learn to deal with climate change. The Government recently promised to provide farmers in the province with mobile drying services for their grains during the harvesting season through the National Cereals and Produce Board. Last season, maize in 29 districts within the province was said to be infected with aflatoxin but due to lack of rapid testing kits, the farmers consumed their maize untested. At the same time fish farmers are calling on the government to set up cold storage facilities to cushion them against losses. The farmers who started rearing fish last year under the Economic Stimulus Programme are harvesting their stocks but lack of a strong market is leading to losses due to their perishable nature. “Fish farming is a new area and has cushioned farmers against losses especially with the current erratic rains. They now need a cold storage facility to encourage large scale fish farming,” said a fisheries officer who did not want to be named because he is not allowed to speak to the media on behalf of the ministry.