October 2021

By George Munene 200 Kenyan agriculture students will join Israeli Arava International Center for Agricultural Training, a center established to train agriculturalists from developing countries on advanced farming methods. The internship will encompass theoretical studies as well as practical training. Related News: Israeli AgriTech company brings digital irrigation to 500K Kenyan farmers Related News: Sh 5.1B agribusiness …

200 Kenya agriculture students get 11 month Israel internship Read More »

By George Munene Kenya has launched the first commercialised biological herbicide, Kichawi Kill, that decimates the deadly parasitic Striga weed and improves maize yields by 50 per cent.   The herbicide was developed by Toothpick Company Limited, a social enterprise based in Kakamega in conjunction with KALRO Katumani. Proof of concept tests ran for 12 years …

Kichawi Kill offers farmers first biological control of deadly striga weed Read More »

By George Munene Meru farm­ers are mak­ing premium earn­ings from the dif­fer­ence in their rainy sea­son, which means they can de­liver pota­toes when they are most scarce and prices are highest. Whilst in most parts of the coun­try long rains run from April to late May those of Kibiri­chia, Meru County last from Oc­to­ber to …

Meru potato farmer doubles earnings through innovative storage Read More »

By George Munene Low mar­ket prices can leave small scale farm­ers frus­trated, but one Kisumu okra farmer has proven that simple value ad­di­tion of valu­able crop can triple his farm­ing in­come with just one har­vest­ing period. With a short shelf life of seven to ten days, small scale farm­ers of this crop find it dif­fi­cult …

South Sudan okra demand triples farmer income Read More »

By George Munene Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya has promised small-holder tea farmers a better pay next year once all reforms undertaken by the government take hold in the tea sector.  “There’s been a steady rise in the prices of tea at auction while plans are underway to lower the cost of production, transportation and …

Government promises tea farmers better prices next year with new reforms Read More »

By George Munene Over 4,000 small-holder farmers in Nakuru will receive low cost financing and subsidized farm inputs as well as access to processing companies and exports markets for avocados and macadamia after their county government inked a deal with American NGO One Acre Fund, and Apollo Agriculture–a Kenyan agricultural lender. The project will target …

Nakuru farmers get avocado, macadamia markets & cheap loans from new program Read More »

By George Munene On his farm at Mariakani, Kilifi County, 52-year-old Ab­dulrahim Morodhi has turned his chicken keep­ing hobby into a luc­rat­ive ven­ture. The re­tired ac­count­ant keeps a vari­ety of exotic, or­na­mental and in­di­gen­ous chicken but has ma­jored in the rear­ing of Brahma chicken. Hav­ing sold most of his ma­ture birds due to the grow­ing …

Mariakani breeder capitalises on Brahma chicken rarity in Kenya Read More »