By MaryAnne Musilo and Lyzzie Owade

Kenya’s garlic farmers are earning up to Sh800,000 an acre every four months growing one of the most profitable crops in the country, with huge scope for expansion, according to garlic champion Gilad Milo.

In an interview with FarmBizAfrica, the musician and former Amiran executive, said he discovered the crops’ potential by growing it during the Covid pandemic.

“Amid pandemic disruptions, early morning drives to Isinya and a race against curfew schedules, we ended up harvesting over 20 tonnes from just four acres in each of our first two seasons,” said Gilad. “We realised we had found a really high-earning crop, with strong demand and premium prices.”

Instead of scaling his own farm, Gilad launched his Ole raha company as a national support network for smallholder farmers, now supplying over 250 farmers across Kajiado, Meru, Kiambu, Embu, Baringo, and Kericho.

“Garlic grows well in every Kenyan county and every type of soil,” said Gilad.

Ole raha is providing farmers with pre-germinated seed cloves, training, online extension support, a tailored spray programme, and guaranteed market access. 

The farmers are harvesting 4 to 5 tonnes of garlic an acre, said Gilad, which is nearly double the global average of 2.3 tonnes per acre, with only big producers Spain and China at higher yields. At a market price of Sh200 to Sh250 a kilo, this is earning up to Sh1.25m per acre per season, translating into profits of around Sh800,000 per acre after the production costs.

But Gilad is quick to note that such yields are only possible with correct management, including close soil and disease management, daily field scouting, consistent hygiene, and adherence to a customised spray regime.

Gilad is working on ways of developing organic garlic in Kenya, but with effective pest management critical to strong production, currently practices conventional farming using mainstream sprays.

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Ole raha is now producing over 700 tonnes of garlic per season with farmers in every county, creating Sh140 million of additional farm incomes, while other, independent farmers are also starting garlic.

“The garlic market in Kenya has been dominated by China because it is a high-volume producer geared towards bulk sales, but Kenyan yields are high enough and growing competitive enough for local production to replace much of this imported garlic,” said LGilad.

China currently produces over 80 per cent of the world’s garlic.

But Kenyan consumers prefer the richer flavour of the local garlic, said Gilad.

“Chinese garlic dominates only because Kenyan farmers haven’t been growing the crop. It is not because the crop grows poorly in Kenya,” he said.