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sugar cane

Coast can grow sugar at twice speed of sugar belt, find studies

Shifting sugarcane farming from Western Kenya to the Coast will cut cane growing time by half and increase the sweetness of Kenya’s sugar, helping the country bridge its sugar deficit...
Chia seeds

Chia offers cheap solution to Kenya’s 2nd biggest killer: heart disease

Adding chia seeds to foods helps to cheaply prevent Kenya’s fastest-rising killer: heart disease. Diseases of the heart and blood vessels are the leading cause of death globally. According to...
Pyrethrum

Kenyan farmers reclaim pyrethrum as government drives better pay 

Kenya’s pyrethrum production is climbing rapidly, up 81 per cent in just five years, to 1.68MT last year, and now earning farmers half a billion shillings a year as they...
tephrosia

Fish bean herb drives away mole rats slaying crops, and fertilises too

Tephrosia, a herb more commonly referred to as ‘fish bean’, delivers a double blessing of repelling moles that clear out sweet potato farmers in Western Kenya and increasing crop yields...
Boko Eats

Startup creates new markets for farmers suffering 40% waste from unsold bananas

An 80-tonne processing capacity factory is creating new markets for 2,250 smallholder contracted farmers in Kisii County rescuing them from a lack of markets. Kisii County is synonymous with banana...
Beehive fences

Researchers prove beehive fences repel elephant raids

Researchers have proved beehive fences repel elephant raids on smallholder farms by 86.3 per cent while earning farmers an extra honey income. The study conducted over nine years by research...

Western farmers trapped in sugar, sacrificing 1/2 to 2/3rds of rich-land income

Sugarcane farmers are staying trapped in sugar as their incomes slump, using often rich agricultural land for the cane, out of generational loyalty, practical lock-ins to millers’ contracts, loans, and...
CHIAM

Global universities launch 3-for-1 all-year crops in Kenya, complete with crop buyers

A university in Nyeri has joined a global consortium of agricultural centres to develop a farming package that uses three crops to help each other, slashing input costs, and tripling...

Farmers add to Africa’s drought crisis by slashing plant cover

Farming habits in East Africa and across the continent are depriving farmers of local rains, by slashing plant cover that is becoming the mainstay of the continent’s rainfall, delivering a...
snail slime

Cosmetic buyers chase snail slime for skin health, opening new market

Snail slime is set to be among the fastest-rising skin care products with its market set to expand by 5.8 per cent in every one of the next 10 years
Vertical garden

Mombasa families pull vegetables into diets by growing vegetable towers in plastic pipes

More than 100 Mombasa urban families are cheaply growing vegetable hills on cement bags, plastic jerry cans, and vertical pipes, enriching their cereals, beans, and fish diets.   Only five per
Tea farm manure application

Manure doubles tea harvest by fixing soil damage from fertiliser

Every year Kenya’s 680,000 tea farmers sacrifice some of their October tea bonus pay to buy chemical fertilisers, they are decimating their soils to the point that their yields have

Kwale farmer targets production of 30 biochar bags by December to double his farm’s yields

By Fadhili Fredrick A passionate and determined farmer in Kwale County is scaling up the production of biochar targeting at least 30 bags by the end of this year to
Lablab/ Njahe

Njahi set to save cattle in region’s new drought

Growing drought-tolerant Lablab or Njahi fodder is a livestock saver that could prove critical to farmers and herders as Kenya heads into renewed drought. During Kenya’s severe 2022 drought, 2.5
Agriculture jobs (CCAFS Climate Smart Villages. Photo: S. Kilungu (CCAFS))

Roundup of agriculture jobs in Kenya– 28th October, 2024

1. Position: Regional deployable food security & livelihood specialist (Re-Advert) Employer: Plan international Location: Nairobi About the job:As the Regional Deployable Food Security and Livelihoods Specialist, you will report to
Intercropping Maize-with groundnut

Weather-fitting farmer beats all with 40% boost in yield

Planning for last year’s short-season weather saw farmer Michael Mumia fly free of the 25 per cent losses suffered by almost all his neighbours, in a single smart move to

Nigerian farmers get access to open-pollinated maize seeds increasing yields 66%

By Shuaibu Anokehi Yahaya Nigerian farmers can now access two varieties of fast-maturing and drought-tolerant open-pollinated maize seeds that increase their yields from three to five tons per hectare and
Coconut

Farmers increase coconut growth by 30% and triple output through simple management techniques

By Henry Jami Mang’eni Farmers increase the growth rates of their coconuts by 30 per cent and get up to three times more nuts through proper management.  According to the FAO,

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