April 2021

Kenyan insurer buoys smallscale farmers with low-cost insurance

Leave a Comment / Smart farms

By George Munene Pula, a Kenyan agricultural insurance and technology company, is offering smallholder farmers innovative and affordable crops and livestock insurance cover for as little as Sh500 to Sh1000. This, coupled with the firm’s digital products such as the Pula mobile app is helping often uninsured and overlooked small-scale farmers endure the risk of …

Kenyan insurer buoys smallscale farmers with low-cost insurance Read More »

KALRO commercializes grass varieties that increase milk production

KALRO commercializes grass varieties that increase milk by 15 to 40 %

Leave a Comment / Yields

By George Munene The Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, KALRO, has registered four Brachiaria grass varieties for commercialization. According to Dr. Eliud Kireger, Director-General KALRO, the grasses have shown the potential of significantly contributing to increased livestock productivity, with farmers reporting 15 to 40 per cent more milk compared to local feeds. These grasses have the potential to revolutionize …

KALRO commercializes grass varieties that increase milk by 15 to 40 % Read More »

Meru sunflower farmers

Meru sunflower farmers get ready market from climate adaptation project

Leave a Comment / Market

By George Munene Over 3,000 small-scale sunflower farmers in Meru County have from the 26th of April started receiving cash payments from the Tujiinue Tena climate change and COVID-19 adaptation project launched in September of last year. Farmers who cultivated the crop last season will be paid on delivering their produce to weighing centers across the county. …

Meru sunflower farmers get ready market from climate adaptation project Read More »

youtu.be vUE rs6X3wc

Kitengela poultry farmer reduces cost by 40% with hydroponic feed

Leave a Comment / Smart farms

By George Munene Through hydroponic farming, Peter Muiruri, a poultry farmer at Kitengela has been able to cut his feeding costs by over 40 per cent. While it costs other farmers Sh700 to feed 100 chicken each consuming 140 grams in a day, Peter spends nearly half of this, Sh400 by substituting nearly 60 per cent of store-bought feeds …

Kitengela poultry farmer reduces cost by 40% with hydroponic feed Read More »

img 5 f5da976d f1ba 41a3 b938 c3187022e313

Kakuzi offering avocado farmers free fruit maturity testing services

Leave a Comment / Smart farms

By George Munene Kakuzi PLC will be providing farmers with free maturity testing services to avocado farmers over the main harvesting period running through August of this year. This is in an effort at empowering smallholder farmers to access the lucrative but often highly regulated global avocado markets. Although Kenya’s avocado exports were marked at 72,000 …

Kakuzi offering avocado farmers free fruit maturity testing services Read More »

Maize storage

Njoro farmers initiate receipt system giving growers better prices & credit

Leave a Comment / Yields

By George Munene Maize farmers from Tuiyotich Kenya Cereal Enhancement Programme-Community Based Organisation in Njoro Sub County have delivered 5,000 bags of grade 2 maize at the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) deport in Nakuru under the new Warehousing Receipt System (WRS). The Njoro maize farmers became the first small-scale farmers to adopt the electronic system. Through their Chairman Joseph Koech, the farmers …

Njoro farmers initiate receipt system giving growers better prices & credit Read More »

tomato farming kenya

Tomato farmers reap ripe returns as shortage bites, prices soar

Leave a Comment / Market

By George Munene For three months, tomato prices have risen exponentially in the country. From a low of Sh700 for a 30-kilogram crate at the closing months of last year, a similar crate at the farmgate now fetches a premium price of Sh2000. At Nairobi’s Muthurwa market the wholesale price of a medium-sized wooden crate is between Sh7000 and …

Tomato farmers reap ripe returns as shortage bites, prices soar Read More »

Investing in Agribusiness Primary Production 2019

Family Bank, USAID Sh500M project to finance agribusinesses in 17 counties over 1 year

Leave a Comment / Market

By George Munene Family Bank has partnered with USAID’s Kenya Investment Mechanism, committing to disburse loans worth Sh500 million to agribusinesses in 17 counties over the next one year. The initiative dubbed ‘Pay for Results’, will provide financing across the dairy, horticulture, livestock and energy agricultural value chains. The counties targeted are Homa Bay, Migori, Kisii, …

Family Bank, USAID Sh500M project to finance agribusinesses in 17 counties over 1 year Read More »

Cows feeding

Feed manufacturers, cereal growers deal could reduce feed costs by 50%

Leave a Comment / Yields

By George Munene In a move that if successful would reduce the cost of feeds by up to 50 per cent, the Association of Kenya Feed Manufacturers (AKEFEMA) is looking to get into a contractual agreement with members of the Cereal Growers Association to tame the ever-increasing cost of animal feeds paid by farmers. The …

Feed manufacturers, cereal growers deal could reduce feed costs by 50% Read More »

jab planter automatic

Ngara company selling double barrel planter, 5X faster than traditional planting methods

Leave a Comment / Tools

By George Munene A Ngara company is offering country-wide delivery of double-barreled seed and fertilizer planters that enable quicker, cheaper and easier standing planting. A jab planter can sow 8000-10 000 sq m per day–an efficiency rate that is four to five times faster than conventional planting methods. The planter can be used for both …

Ngara company selling double barrel planter, 5X faster than traditional planting methods Read More »