A mixture of improved farming methods and lucrative markets for modern crops is now luring more youth into agribusiness and shunning the myth that it is a poor man’s job as a new breed of young smart farmers emerge as the next set of millionaires. While traditionally the youth who make up 75 percent of […]
Urban youth ditch ties for overalls and gumboots Read More »
As the world marks International day of women, Kenya’s recognition of women farmers has been dismal even as studies show that 80 percent of all Kenyan farmers are women. A paltry one percent of the women farmers own land or have access to agricultural supported financing facilities. But even with these odds there are women
The golden girls of Kenya’s agriculture Read More »
Kenyan women make 80 percent of all farmers in the country according to the World Bank yet challenges like ownership of land and access to finances means that they never get to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Flanked by a poultry yard and several cows grazing just a few meters from her home, Linda
Kenya women farmers neglected despite driving agriculture Read More »
A Vancouver based NGO is helping Kenyan tea farmers increase their earnings by upto 20 percent by removing market bottlenecks like the middlemen in tea processing. Currently farmers earn about one per cent of the retail profit from the tea they grow. JusTea was founded by Paul Bain, who graduated from UBC with a political
JusTea assist tea farmers increase earnings by 20 percent Read More »
Even as the weather man predict the onset of rains, Hannah Wangemi from Trans Nzoia knows that she cant count on the weatherman’s word. She has been frustrated before. Instead the mother of one who specializes in horticulture farming is determined to keep her produce growing by making use of modern agricultural technology. She is
Farmers get smart to beat changing weather patterns Read More »
A project to widen bean varieties for canning has yielded fruits with the country now boasting of four high yielding varieties to be supplied to the canning industry which since 1960 has relied on the foreign Mexican 142 variety. The new improved varieties are aimed at improving food security, nutrition, and raising farmers’ incomes through
Project breeds high value beans for canners Read More »
Researchers are teaming up to address the growing list of maize woes in the country as studies indicate that high yielding disease resistant varieties are the only solution for a crop relied by over three quarters of Kenyans in the wake of emerging diseases due to climate change. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
Kenyan maize finds its mojo in new labs Read More »
The landscape in the shadow of Africa’s largest mountain, Kilimanjaro, is stunning. The climate is ideal and the soil is rich and deep. But until recently farmers in Kenya’s Loitokitok district had struggled to make even a subsistence living in this seemingly perfect setting. The problem, as in many areas in East Africa, is water.
Irrigation scheme nourishes arid Loitoktok farms Read More »
A decision to quit teaching and concentrate on farming on health grounds for Mary Namaganda has turned into a promising pig business now housing over 80 pigs and giving her a tidy income of Sh 450, 000 a year. A single mother of two, Namaganda was struggling to make ends meet with poor pay and
The diabetic teacher who found fortunes in pig farming Read More »
Mobile phone firm Airtel Kenya has launched an agribusiness information system meant to provide real time information to farmers on its network in a bid to increase yields and income from agribusiness. The project, dubbed ‘Airtel Kilimo’, hopes to provide farmers with access to agriculture-related information, advice and research. This information will help them
Telcom firm launches information system for farmers Read More »