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Chilli buyer seeks farmer supplies as shortage bites

dried chilli
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A chili buyer is recruiting tens of farmers offering them a ready market for their dried red chilis starting this week as the produce’s local buyers struggle to get the few stocks of the spice left in the country.

According to wholesalers and companies that buy chili in Kenya, most of the crop’s farmers who are usually in Kajiado, Loitoktok, Narok, Ukambani, and the Coast, are contracted to chili exporters, shrinking the pool of farmers they can get the spice from.

Jacob Njagi, a chili buyer based in Kasarani, who supplies Indians in Parklands and Somalis in Eastleigh, is looking for enough farmers to meet the weekly 500 kilograms to one-tonne order of dried Long Red Cayenne and African Birds Eye Chilli (ABE). 

“Together with all the spice makers, we are scrambling for the limited quantities of chili in the market. Chilies are not as readily grown as tomatoes and the few farmers who have them on their shamba are contracted to supply raw chili exporters,” Njagi informed.

Because chillies are a long-term crop; they take three weeks in the seedbed, four to five months before they are commercially harvestable and nine months to two years to fully harvest; once a farmer contractually grows them their shamba is spoken for at least one year.

Related News: Exporter urgently seeking for ABE chilli farmers

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Chilli exporters offer a lucrative deal to farmers. They pay Sh70 for a kilo of raw chili, agronomic support, contacts for tractor operators ,and sometimes even going the extra mile of providing free seeds.

“Such a farmer will farm exclusively for the exporter and because they visit their farmers regularly, they decide to switch to supplying a different company or individual buyer they will be blacklisted from ever being enlisted as growers again,” Jacob said.

Njagi, who is happy to accept a minimum of 50kg of chili from farmers across Kenya, said that because of the limited pool of farmers they can enlist, the internal demand for chilies by processors who mill them to make chili powders, flakes, pastes, and sauces is as high as ever. “I can take on orders of up to two tonnes every week, but I’m doing half as much because of limited supplies.”

Transport to Nairobi is negotiated between Njagi and individual farmers with the costs of getting the chilis to Nairobi split.

A single acre of well-irrigated and properly managed land can yield four to five tons of fresh Cayenne and one to three tonnes of ABE. When dried, the chilies weigh approximately one-third of their fresh weight. The price per kilogram ranges between Sh100 and Sh300, depending on factors such as season, quality of the crop, and demand from the export market.

“I buy dry stalked red chilis for Sh200 and destalked red chilis for Sh230. They should also be well dried to avoid them getting mold which rots the chillies and causes aflatoxin,” he informed.

Chilis stalks refer to the part of the chili that was attached to the plant. Removing them requires chili buyers to hire workers to remove them.

Well-dried chilies should have a moisture content of 11-12.5 per cent. You can however still tell whether chilies are well-dried or not just by touch. “When you rub a chili on your hands and it cracks and does not bend, you know it was perfectly dried,” Njagi said.

Related News: Eldoret exporter urgently buying red chilli

Related News: A Nairobi processing firm offering hot chilli market

Buyers prefer dried chilies that are undamaged and whole. Drying chilies in direct sunlight can lower their capsaicin content which is the hotness and pungency of chilies. Direct drying leads to a milder flavor, and may also cause their vibrant red color to diminish turning them orange.

Chilies grow well in a range of climates, performing the best in temperatures between 20°C and 30°C. Fruiting is however affected when temperatures drop below 16°C or rise above 32°C. They perform the best in light, loamy, well-drained soils with a pH of 6.0 to 6.5, though they can adapt to a broader pH range of 4.3 to 9.7. While they are hardy plants, they can occasionally be affected by pests such as thrips, mites, aphids, and whiteflies and fungal diseases, including downy mildew and powdery mildew.

You can register to sell your chili on the form below

Chilli Seller Registration Form
Your contact and farm details
If you cannot answer the optional questions, it will not affect your sale

Please give your name*

Please give your name*

Please give your phone number*

Please give your phone number*

Please give your email address, if you have one

Please give your email address, if you have one

Please give the county, ward and sub-ward where your farm is located*

Please give the county, ward and sub-ward where your farm is located*

Please confirm you can deliver your seeds to a collection point*

Please confirm you can deliver your seeds to a collection point*

If you cannot deliver your seed to a collection point, please give details of why not

If you cannot deliver your seed to a collection point, please give details of why not

What size is your farm?*

What size is your farm?*

Please give your answer in acres or parts of acres

How large is the plot you are planting with chilli?*

How large is the plot you are planting with chilli?*

Have you tested your soil?*

Have you tested your soil?*

If you have tested your soil, what is it's pH?

If you have tested your soil, what is it's pH?

Your sunflowers

Have you already planted chilli?*

Have you already planted chilli?*

When will your chillies be ready for your next sale?*

When will your chillies be ready for your next sale?*

Please give the type of chilli you are selling*

Please give the type of chilli you are selling*

If you do not know your seed type, please use the 'other or not known' option at the end

What volume of chilli do you expect to sell in your next sale?*

What volume of chilli do you expect to sell in your next sale?*

Did you use pesticides for your chillies?*

Did you use pesticides for your chillies?*

Did you lose any of your crop, or experience challenges because of weather, soil quality, pests, or any other reason?*

Did you lose any of your crop, or experience challenges because of weather, soil quality, pests, or any other reason?*

Please give details

How did you learn the best ways to get high yields for your chillies?*

How did you learn the best ways to get high yields for your chillies?*

If you learnt in more than one place, please tick all the palces you learned about how to grow sunflowers

Do you believe you could get higher yields with extension support?*

Do you believe you could get higher yields with extension support?*

Would you use extension support if it was available?*

Would you use extension support if it was available?*


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