March 2022

beans

Ready market & higher returns encourage tobacco farmers shift to beans

By George Munene Former tobacco farmers in Migori county are shifting to planting high-iron beans under the World Health Organization (WHO) Tobacco-Free Farms project that provides a ready market for their harvest, inputs in seeds and fertilizers as well as farmer training. Farmer groups participating in the project have thus far sold 135 metric tons …

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farm

Maize production to stagnate as fertiliser prices rise & farmers find lucrative alternatives —USDA report

By George Munene According to a report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agriculture Office, Kenya’s maize harvests will remain unchanged this year due to a 71 per cent rise in fertilizer prices and the emergence of more lucrative alternative crops. Per the report, rice production is forecast to increase by 12 …

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Mwea company turns rice waste to 3X cheaper high yield organic fertiliser

By George Munene Based in Mwea, Safi Organics turns rice husks into organic fertiliser that is two to three times cheaper than store-bought fertilisers but gives up to 30 per cent more yield. “A bag of DAP fertiliser currently retails at Sh7,000 and is predicted to rise even higher by the end of the month, …

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avacado

Kakuzi given green light to export avocado to China

By George Munene Kakuzi PLC has secured a permit from the Kenya Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) to process export-grade fresh avocados for the Chinese market. The move is expected to benefit smallholder farmers supplying avocadoes to the publicly traded company as it will open up China’s mammoth $133 million avocado market. The approval followed an …

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Mace foods

Nyamira women get indigenous vegetable market through UN program

By George .P. Munene The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) project “AgrInvest – Enabling inclusive and efficient private sector investment in agri-food systems” (AgrInvest-FS), in Kenya is supporting the Nyamira North Women SACCO, a women-led Savings and Credit Cooperative Organization (SACCO) to grow and sell indigenous vegetables to, Mace Foods, a …

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BSF

Kenya leads charge in emergent million-dollar insect farming business

By George. P. Munene Thanks to the International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), headquartered in Nairobi, and aided by Kenya’s ideal climate, many insect farming startups are finding the country fertile ground in this new farming frontier. According to Dr. Tanga Chrysantus, Head of ICIPE’s Insects for Food, Feed, and Other Uses (INSEFF) …

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worm compost bin 1

Fertiliser Crisis: Organic gold manure that doubles farmer yields

By George Munene With sky-high fertiliser prices, Farmbizafrica has undertaken to highlight alternative sources farmers can use to enrich their soils while lessening dependence on synthetic fertilisers. Vermicompost is organic fertilizer produced by earthworms from organic waste. It is colloquially referred to as organic gold with good reason; in various studies, vermicompost was found to …

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Standard Chartered launches incubator program for women in agritech

By George Munene Standard Chartered Bank Limited has launched the Women in Technology Cohort 5 Incubator Program, an initiative that seeks to fund Kenyan women in tech offering solutions to challenges in agriculture, healthcare, education, manufacturing, IT, financial services, and logistics. The incubator program for female-founded businesses helps improve diversity in technology and entrepreneurship. The …

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