25 minute read
BL KILIMO
Vegetables grown in a sack.
GarDeN IN a SaCK For CITy reSIDeNTS
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With most people becoming more health conscious, Urban Green Farm is providing a solution that enables city dwellers to grow organic crops in a sack
By Jeniffer Kamau
Although Kenya is still predominantly rural, it is urbanizing rapidly. Today, an increasing number of people are being forced to move to cities in search of better job opportunities. This is evidenced by endless traffic jams and scarcity of housing, leading to congestion of people in slums.
The result is high cost of food due to increased demand and the likelihood of consuming vegetables grown using liquid slurry from sewers.
However, with most people becoming more health conscious, the demand for nutritious, safe, healthy and sustainably produced food is growing by the minute. This has led to adoption of urban agriculture, where some city residents are growing crops with short maturity periods and long-term benefits. Others are rearing animals such as chicken, rabbits and goats.
“In most cases, urban agriculture is done through sack gardening, where crops such as spinach, capsicum, onions, coriander and kales among others are grown in a bag filled with soil,” says Mary from Urban Green Farm. However, the most appropriate crops are leafy vegetables given that they can be harvested many times per growing season. Urban Green Farm is a supplier of bags for kitchen gardens and fresh vegetables.
Compared with feed sacks, the company’s bags are long lasting and come in different sizes. The price is also pocket-friendly but varies with the size of the sack. On average, the smallest sack can hold thirty seedlings on the sides, while the top accommodates several of them depending on the type of crop.
“The objective of urban farming is to empower individuals to have superior food purchasing power.” The sack gardens are also estimated to save money ordinarily spent to buy vegetables to cater for other pressing needs. Besides, it is a way of income generation as families can have adequate produce to feed themselves and sell the surplus to other consumers.
Recently, urban farming has been on the rise in Kenya especially due to support from national and international organizations, which term it as a good way of solving food insecurity.
For instance, the National Youth Service (NYS) recently started the sack gardens initiative at Kibera, one of the biggest slums in Africa. Others include Solidarities – a French relief non-governmental organization and the Nairobi Food Security, Agriculture and Livestock Forum (NEFSALF).
How it works
In order to increase productivity, Mary says that farmers should fill the sacks with equal proportions of manure and soil. Obtaining
good soil for planting is vital. Other inputs such as fertilizers may also be added, but this depends on the farmer. According to Mary, the soil-manure mixture should be changed after one year.
At the centre, there should be a column of stones that enables water to drain to all parts of the sack. This allows crops to grow from the top as well as the sides.
A strict watering regime should also be put in place. In the beginning, the sack should be watered with thirty litres of water daily. After a few days, watering should be reduced to twenty litres daily, twice a day and three days per week. Mary observes that understanding the irrigation requirements of plants is important as it helps to keep the soil moist while avoiding excessive watering.
The cultivation in sacks has numerous advantages. To start with, it leads to less access to huge tracks of land, as the bags occupy a small space. The sacks can be
placed on the balcony, rooftops or on the doorsteps, making them convenient for any urban resident - the affluent in suburbs and the poor in slums.
In addition, minimal water is used for irrigation, while no technical knowhow is needed. The equipment used is also simple and cheap to obtain.
Improving health
While sack farming makes food more affordable and available, it also has the potential to make food healthier for consumption. “Urban agricultural practice is significant in meeting the dietary requirements of the urban family.”
The development comes at a time when experts are warning of highly contaminated vegetables in the open markets, especially in the cities. For instance, a Joint study carried out by Strathmore University and the University of Nairobi revealed that most vegetables and fruits sold in Kenya comprise a combination of heavy metals and harmful pesticides that surpass safety levels.
This exposes city dwellers to hazardous diseases such as cancer, kidney and liver damage, heart problems and skin diseases among others. Nevertheless, these side effects occur when the vegetables are consumed for a long time.
Nevertheless, with the garden in a sack technique in place, urban farmers can manage their health by producing organic crops through avoiding the use of pesticides, herbicides, or the application of synthetic fertilizers.
Therefore, the technology can enhance nutritious urban food production by generating micronutrient rich vegetables that are chemical free. Besides, it guarantees the availability of minerals and vitamins vital for proper functioning of the immune system as well as intellectual, physical and cognitive development.
“When ready for consumption, a sack containing vegetables such as spinach and kales can feed a single household two to three times a week for several months.”
The rise of counterfeit seeds and farm inputs continues to haunt farmers, but IFDC is working round the clock to curb the vice
By Anthony Kiganda
Farmers during a planting season.
FerTILIZer orGaNISaTIoN SeeKS To CUrB CoUNTerFeIT SeeDS aND FarM INpUTS
There are growing concerns over rampant counterfeit seeds and other agro-farm input in the country. In recent years, farmers have frequently fallen prey to unscrupulous dealers who pose as certified seed sellers. The upsurge in fake seeds and fertilizers has especially dealt a major blow to small scale farmers who have limited knowledge on how to deduce between fake and original products.
Smallholder farming is the most affected and given that it provides the critical lifeline for many people in rural areas, its threat will directly have a ripple effect in the entire country. A survey carried out by Kenya Agricultural Research Institute reveals that four out of ten packets of seeds in the market contain fake seeds. The report also indicates that three quarter of Kenyan farmers have planted fake seeds at some point in their farming career. The research attributes this trend to a slump in food production in the country.
Worrying trend
Despite numerous efforts by the government and stakeholders to help in tackling the challenge, counterfeit farm inputs have continued to flood the market unabated. Fake dealers seem to defy every mechanism put in place to counter them, largely due to soaring demand of food products. It is a worrying trend that if untamed is likely to see food production diminish in the country. Some reports have even indicated that the menace has been exacerbated by agro-dealers who knowingly supply grains to farmers instead of seeds, a claim that they vehemently deny.
With counterfeits on the rise, farmers are bearing the heaviest brunt. Most of them have continued to record low yields despite heavily investing in agriculture. In some cases, they have been compelled to abandon farming and try other ventures.
Simon Kimutai was a successful maize farmer in Bomet County. But in the past one year, he has seen a reversal of fortunes, suffering a sudden fall in production. He blames his woes on the proliferation of counterfeit feeds and other agro-inputs.
“I used to have a bumper harvest in my 3 acre piece of land but nowadays I hardly get 10 bags of maize,” Kimutai laments.
The story is similar for Leonard Mulwa, a poultry farmer in Mbooni. While he used
Farmers examine a maize plantation.
to register a laying rate of as high as 80 per cent he has been registering 60 per cent for the last two years.
“I have 200 layers but their egg production has not been consistent for the past six months, I am trying to change their feeds to see if the trend will change,” Mulwa says. Dr Millie Gadbois who is regional director of the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), says that some fake farm input such as fertilizers and seeds can have devastating impact not only on agriculture but also on human health.
“Expired or diluted fertilizers may have poor action on crops leading to poor yields. Farmers who use fake products also incur higher cost of production and long term environmental degradation,” she says adding that fake animal feed may not contain all required nutrients.
“Majority of farmers have resorted to using seeds carried forward from the previous seasons or traded informally for fear of purchasing counterfeits. Such seeds generally produce lower yields than genuine high yield hybrids,” explains Gadbois.
She asserts that while there are some unscrupulous dealers, the high demand for cheaper high-end products by farmers has driven the vice higher hence making it a lucrative business.
Gadbois notes that Counterfeit products are widely available in many countries in Africa. She observes that limited knowledge among farmers combined with inadequate government resources for inspection and enforcement of the law has made it nearly impossible to successfully prosecute offenders.
“Counterfeits are usually imitations of another well known product with an intention of deceiving customers. Some counterfeit products are sold at prices equivalent to the genuine products, while others are extremely cheap,” Gadbois quips. The government estimates the fake seed market to be approximately 10,000 metric tonnes and that small scale farmers are the most affected.
Although there are several specialized agencies tasked with curbing the problem including; Kenya Bureau of Standards, Pest Control Products Board and Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate, counterfeits still find their way to the market.
Concerted efforts
Agriculture experts say that combating the challenge needs a concerted relentless effort from all the stakeholders including the government, farmers and the private sector.
Gadbois says that as one of the major players in agriculture, they have put in place various interventions aimed at ensuring that farmers buy certified farm inputs.
“We have launched various projects that include training for farmers and agrovets. We also link farmer groups to reputable local retailers,” she explains “Some of our projects also connect retailers to large suppliers for instance fertilizer and agrochemical distributors. They are all geared towards ensuring that farmers can easily obtain genuine products when needed.”
A research conducted by Tegemeo Institute of Agriculture Policy and Development notes that sometimes farmers use counterfeit farm input because they hybrid ones are not readily available. The report urges certified seed companies and the government to hold regular field demonstrations and establish trial plots for various seeds.
The study reveals that farmers use both formal and informal system to access seeds. It notes that while the informal system does not guarantee value of seeds purchased, lack of coordination in the market has enabled selling of counterfeits to thrive.
Banking on technology
In bid to tackle the escalating problem, Gadbois urges for intensive and expansive use of technology.
In Uganda for instance, she says they have invented a project where packs for original farm inputs come with a special scratch label. The buyer scratches the label to reveal its unique identification and sends a text message of the unique number to an answering service. Within seconds he receives an authentication message confirming the product is genuine.
Apart from counterfeits, farmers also face a myriad of challenges including financial constraints to buy the right products and poor knowledge on the benefits of using high quality inputs.
With increased awareness campaigns aimed at ensuring farmers buy original farm inputs, Gadbois is confident that it’s just a matter of time before the counterfeit challenge is tackled.
“We need to sustain efforts to end the vice; it is normally not possible to see all defects during field inspection because testing is done in samples in laboratories,” she says.
Gadbois advices farmers to buy seeds and other farm inputs from genuine dealers in sealed packages if they intend to reap handsomely from their farming businesses.
Kelvin Kiguro, founder, Kedesa Rabbit Farm.
NoT a MoMeNT oF LIFe IS waSTeD oN a FarM
High demand for healthy eating drives the demand for rabbit meat
By Agnes Mbithi
Rabbit farming in Kenya is a venture that is becoming very popular in Kenya. This is mainly due to the growing demand for rabbit meat. The business is not hard to start since you require very little capital. Rabbits are fast growing animals. They gain maturity fast and become suitable for slaughtering within a period of four to five months. Rabbit meat is one of the best sources of protein. It is healthier than other meats. As a result, rabbit farming in Kenya is becoming popular day by day. Rabbit meat contains more protein and less fat than beef, turkey, pork and even chicken. The meat is very tasty and nutritious. Even old aged people can easily consume and digest it.
For a long time, rabbit farming in Kenya for meat production was notbeing taken seriously. But nowadays, many farmers are raising rabbits for commercial production of meat and they are earning quite a huge amount of money. Starting rabbit farming in Kenya requires very little capital. You can even start rabbit farming business in a well-ventilated small space. Commercial rabbit farming in Kenya can be a great source of income and employment. Despite being a business, it is also very pleasing and entertaining. The thriving business has therefore attracted a lot of investors. Kelvin Kiguro is one of them. He started rabbit farming out of passion as well as a part time side hustle. It was through a friend that he was able to learn about rabbit farming.
Just a few meters from Kiambu town, we get to a village known as Kirigiti where Kedesa Rabbit Farm is located. The farm was started in 2017 with a vision of empowering the youths by giving them a source of income. “Since I started this kind of business I can’t complain, we take rabbits from farmers for meat because we have big tenders. Most of the times it becomes hard to satisfy the market needs and therefore we buy rabbits from other farmers,” says Kelvin. On average, the farm slaughters rabbits once in a week - either on Thursdays or Fridays. Customers are informed about the slaughter days a day before.
Breeding
Choosing suitable breeds for commercial rabbit farming is one of the most important steps before starting. “When we were starting the farm, we had little knowledge about the breeds to keep and therefore we started with the local ones, but after several visits to differentfarms, we learnt about the giant breed which I introduced on our farm,” he says.He further explains that when feeding a local breed for six months (and also a high breed for a similar period), thehigh breed tends to add a weight of about 3.5 kgs and above compared to the local one. “When we used to rare the local rabbits, they were weighing a maximum of 3kgs, but going with our market, the more the weight the more the money you receive,” he avers. According to Kelvin, it was necessary for him to shift to the high breeds in order to have his rabbits weigh higher. Despite buying rabbits from other farmers, they also put into consideration the weight that the rabbits have. Each farmer is required to bring rabbits that weigh a minimum of 2.5 kgs. After slaughtering, the rabbits tend to loss about 1kg or 800 gms, thereby allowing a minimum of 2.5kgs. Even after losing some weight during the process, they still have a considerable amount of weight.
Checkered giant rabbit at Kedesa Rabbit Farm.
To start with, he considered raring the California white breed, New Zealand White and the Dutch rabbit breed which are considered to be medium. They are mainly referred to as medium breeds because they mature within a period of five months. He later introduced other breeds in his farm such as the Flemish giant rabbit and the Checkered giant rabbit which mature in a period of seven months. ”All those breeds are suitable for commercial production depending on the environment and the climate of an area,” he says. Additionally, you should choose breeds according to your desired production. He further states that it is wise to have all types of breeds because consumers are different. Nevertheless, in a case where the farmer is rearing rabbits for meat purposes , he should consider the New Zealand breed, California white, Dutch rabbit, chinchilla, Silver fox, Silver Marten, Havana and the Flemish giant which are basically the medium breed and mature faster. The gestation period of a rabbit is 28 to 32 days at maximum and they give birth to about 10 to 12 young ones. A female rabbit is referred to as a doe and a male rabbit is referred to as a buck.
Housing
Making suitable rabbit housing is one of the most important stages in rabbit farming. Rabbits are very clean animals. They love to stay in clean houses with a good ventilation system. It is wise to choose the method of cages that you want depending on the type of your production and the investment capabilities. Therefore, the first consideration is to have a sufficient amount of capital to enable you construct cages for the rabbits and also help you acquire the right breeds. The construction of cages depends on the number of rabbits you plan to rear. The amount of budget set aside for the construction and the size should be considerate to enable proper growth. Not only is the capital important, but also the need to identify a ready market for your business. The marketing process is one of the most important parts of rabbit farming. Basically, there are no formal markets for selling rabbits products so far. All the same, rabbit meat slaughter houses are coming up due to the high popularity and increasing demands of rabbit meat. “Before starting the business, you need to know where you will be taking your rabbits. However, you need to conduct a thorough research on how to take care of the rabbits,” he notes. It is very necessary to take some extra care and management for your rabbits. This can be done by vaccinating them timely in order to keep them free from all types of rabbit diseases. “Ensure that your rabbits never feed on polluted or expired food to keep them as healthy as possible and also try and monitor all their activities,” Kelvin points out. Every business faces its own difficulties therefore one should not fear marketing their products.
Sufficient amount of nutritious and balanced diet foods keep the rabbit healthy and productive. According to him, rabbits for commercial production should be fed with commercially prepared supplementary feeds. Along with this, you can add dry leaves. Sufficient amount of clean and fresh water is also required in addition to nutritious rabbit feeds.
Kedesa Farm has also been able to observe cleanliness. The cages are cleaned twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Diseases
There are some diseases among rabbits that can be prevented by ensuring that you have an understanding of the diseases and how they can be prevented. “One of the diseases that my rabbits get is bloating – it is as a result of feeding. If you feed your rabbit with wet leaves, they are prone to bloating and it is a very risky disease because a rabbit cannot survive for a long time,” says Kelvin. He further states that the disease can kill within 24 to 48 hours. Bloating can also be as a result of coccidiosis which also kills a rabbit in 24 hours or less. This can be controlled by fumigating the cages from time to time. It is therefore important to have a closer observation of your rabbits, a correct diet, up to date vaccinations and regular health checks to ensure you detect the early signs of problems and prevent diseases from developing.
There are other common diseases that Kedesa Rabbit Farm faces including overgrown teeth, snuffles and Yakanka which is as a result of poor management of cages among others. A rabbit’s teeth continually grow throughout its life. If a rabbit is not constantly grinding its teeth down by eating fibre, then it starts forming sharp spike on its molar teeth, hence damaging its cheeks and tongue. This causes pain that makes them unable to eat. Once a rabbit stops eating, its gut stops working and it can die. “In order to prevent this type of disease then 80 – 90% of the rabbit’s diet needs to be fibre in the form of oaten or grass hay. The rest of the diet should be leafy greens with pellets. For the snuffle disease, it can only occur when your rabbit has had close contact with one that is infected. This bacteria can only affect the eyes and nose.Most rabbit related diseases are caused by poor management of cages and uncleanliness. It is therefore important to observe cleanliness and also ensure that the rabbits are well fed.
Advice to upcoming rabbit farmers
“I would advise upcoming rabbit farmers to take their projects seriously. They should not listen to the people who might have tried the business failed,” he says. He further says that these farmers should be ready to take risks. Moreover, they should look for mentors.
He aspires to expand his farm by introducing a variety of commodities, besides mentoring other farmers to succeed in agribusiness.
By George Marenya
Strategy. No word has been used, overused and even misrepresented like this particular one. So what is strategy?And beyond definition and linguistics around it, what does it entail in the long run? This is what Professor Timothy Waema, Ron Price and Evans Baiya have set out to do. Define strategy in simple yet not simplistic terms. And they don’t disappoint. In their magnumopus- Optimizing Strategy for Results, they define strategy among other things as a: “Line connecting the current state of the company with its goal.”
Journey
Strategy is that journey. It is not reams of paper, booklets or manuals but what you do day in day out. What is more, it not some magic to be prescribed by a battery of consultants from without and presented to hapless staff as a magic wand. Since that is so, the people around you, those who will make this possible, become very crucial. Even more important is how you will let them know of your intentions moving forward.
The culture of the organization will define its strategy and ensure whether it succeeds or fails. Maybe Peter Drucker was right when he said that culture will eat strategy for breakfast. If the company norms and ethos are not in tune with the intended success story, then too bad.Everyone must know that they have an important role to play to make the strategy work. Knowing the individual strengths and the inner emotions of the team is the key to enabling them achieve the overall goal.
The feeling that one is valued and is deemed an integral part of the intended success story gives a lot of inspiration in itself.As you move along the journey of building strategy, it is important to keep out distractions. Concentration has to be kept at its peak if the tasks ahead are to be achieved. Dr. James Mwangi mentions in the book that ultimately, we succeed because
How To MaKe STraTeGy SUCCeeD
of the “why” of what we do over the “what”. The why is the philosophy. It is what gives us the energy every morning and periodically keeps us awake in the middle of the night.
Road map
Strategy enables our natural talents and
skills to harmoniously bring out the best in everyone. Talents are those attributes that exist in us. We don’t even notice we have them. Skills on the other hand are learned and applied with intention. Talents emerge from our sub conscious so that we may not even be aware we have always exhibited and applied them.
For strategy to achieve the required result in record time, we must not conflate planning and organizing. The overall themes and roadmap must not cloud out important tasks to be achieved in time and by whom. Organizing on the other hand is the skill that helps us know who will do what. It results in effectiveness. To be effective means aiming to do the right things. It must be differentiated from efficiency which is all about doing things right without measurable goals.
This book: Optimizing Strategy is big on soul searching. What would your customers or the world miss if you were not in existence? After thinking deeply about how your organization can change the world, the void its absence would create and its origin, you then have a good idea why your company exists. “Describe it in a sentence and write it down!” the authors insist.
It would not be too much to have a sit down with older members of an organization just to understand what the founding years looked like. These are the custodians of the purpose of the organization. Dr Mwangi will always tell you what his intentions and observations were when he first walked through the doors of Equity Bank. These dreams (why) remain the guiding light of the group even as it moves to become a continental behemoth. The organization will be stuck in one place if you keep referring to old documents and claim that this is how things are or have always been. Operating in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment calls for patience as you wait for your team to buy into your idea for the future.
It is important to be clear whether a vision is inspirational or aspirational. An inspirational vision exists not necessarily to be achieved but to inspire and create some espritdecorps of sorts. On the other handis the aspirational vision with tangible and measurable goals. It is never bad to achieve such a big ambition that scares you.
In times of crisis, the company must allow leaders to emerge at the expense of hierarchy. Decision making and creativity must be distributed and devolved such that new solutions to new problems and situations emerge quickly to deal with the VUCA environment. Actually this is the whole point of the book. Strategy in an environment of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA). And the world surely is no longer the stable, staid environment our fathers saw. If it is not about whole economies tanking, it is COVID 19 or the war in Ukraine and Russia. It is a world where being prepared and unprepared almost means the same thing. It is a world for skills to deal with the next unknown. It is a world where you learn on a go. Surprisingly thinking backwards and connecting the dots is important in trying to understand yourself and industry trends and therefore being ready for out of the blue scenerios. Identifying trends that are likely to shape your industry in the next 20 years is also helpful making you prepared for the volatile world that is the 21st century. But ultimately, customer focus is at the core of strategy for those who have made it like Equity. It also helps to make yourself synonymous with the environment and the society you work in. That is how WingstoFly has helped drive brand affinity for Equity to project itself beyond those who help you expand economic opportunity. Equity now is known as an enabler of life and opportunity itself. They are seen as a people keen on fostering generations of successful Kenyans for the good of the world and not just the immediate group welfare and good.
Such a strategy is so stable that it can withstand any shock thrown at it. For effective evaluation of strategy, don’t put in too much or too little. Be honest with yourself along the way. Work with data and context: the story around the data. Encourage everyone involved to think deeply, widely and boldly and this way uncover insights for the present so as to better illuminate the future. Create appropriate structures and forums for discussions and improvement and avoid short term thinking. Be ready to wait for results.
Do not fall for the temptation of starting well and quitting before you see the fruits of your results. Geoffrey Griffin, he of the Starehe Boys fame told us that tenure (allowing people time) is important in giving them the motivation to know that they are likely to see the fruits of their labor. Optimizing strategy is a case for clarity in approach and methods. It makes a good case and executes it well.
The book is well structured and therefore is an easy reference material depending on what it is you are struggling with at the moment. It is a good read for company executives, business students and the intelligentsia at large.
Enjoy reading it and may you succeed.
From left: Nick Read, CEO, Vodafone Group, Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom PLC, Michael joseph, Safaricom Board member and Anwar Soussa CEO, Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia, during the switch on of the Safaricom Ethiopia mobile telecommunications network and services in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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