By George Munene The price of bread is up Sh10 while that of a two-kilogram bag of wheat has risen by 25% from last year, hitting the Sh200 mark for the first time since 2018. This provides an opportunity for farmers who grow wheat alternatives such as tubers to get their crops on more […]
Rising wheat prices provides market opportunities for tuber farmers Read More »
By George Munene Kenya’s coffee production is forecast to dip by 10 per cent to 700,000 bags for the 2022-23 season due to lower yields caused by reduced fertilizer application. Fertilizer prices in Kenya stand at Sh 6,000 per 50 kg bag, a 71 percent increase from the previous year. Acording to the report by
Kenya’s coffee production to dip 10% due to rise in fertiliser costs Read More »
By George Munene Kakuzi PLC has announced plans to diversify into the production of superfoods such as Macadamia and Blueberries as its avocado business falters. While it’s volume of Hass avocado sold decreased by 17.5%, its macadamia sales increased to 513 tons from 320 tons the previous year. The publicly-traded company plans on establishing an
Kakuzi banks on macadamia & blueberries as avocado business falters Read More »
By George Munene According to Kenya’s United Grain Miller’s Association, the country has run out of maize, while existing wheat stocks are expected to last until September. The price of a 90kg bag of maize has jumped 50 per cent from Sh2,800 at the start of the year to Sh4,200. A two-kilogram packet now retails
Kenya running out of maize & wheat stocks Read More »
By George Munene The Horticultural Crops Directorate (HCD) has reviewed the minimum avocado dry matter percentage (DM%) post-harvest to 24 per cent for Hass and Fuerte avocadoes meant for export. This is in lieu of the numerous complaints received on the quality of avocados imported to the European Union and the United Arab Emirates. “We
Horticulture directorate revises avocado export harvesting requirements Read More »
By George Munene The Kenyan government will lease out idle land owned by Kenyan parastatals to private farmers in an effort to arrest rising food insecurity in the country. The move greenlit by Kenya’s cabinet on Thursday seeks to reclaim public land and contract it out to private farmers for intensive agriculture. “Cabinet approved the
Government approves leasing of idle state land to private farmers Read More »
By George Munene “Brokers tampering with weighing scales has always been an unfortunate part of the farming game in Kenya, however, as the cost of living has risen the degree to which this vice has proliferated in recent years is disconcerting; nowadays you will be hard-pressed to find an honest broker,” begins my conversation with
Tipping the scales: How greed is killing Kenyan agriculture Read More »
By George Munene “When we first started the company in 2015, our minds were fixed on fish production, however, getting adequate fingerlings became an issue, meaning we had to figure out how to spawn our own. Getting quality feeds was the next major hurdle we faced, this necessitated another pivot to include feed production. Lastly,
Innovation sees Zambian farm become Africa’s leader in aquaculture Read More »
A study by the International Livestock Research Institute ILRI is advocating for zero grazing system to contain tick borne diseases as it emerged that free range systems exposes livestock to ticks-increasing the chances of contracting diseases. “Animals subjected to zero-grazing systems had 80 per cent lower chance of contracting ECF than in farms where
Zero-grazed cattle at 80% less risk of ECF Read More »
Frustrated with the poor returns from the traditional farming of cereals, farmers in Siaya have discovered a goldmine in morbdick, a plant they have traditionally relied on to cure flu and cold and whose demand in the international flower market has soared tremendously in the recent past. Morbdick, a tiny yet leafy plant featuring small
Siaya farmers penetrate export market with little known flower Read More »