By James Odhiambo 

Farmers are now earning up to Sh250,000 a year from just a quarter acre by growing White’s Ginger, or Mukombera, and selling the root directly at Sh500 a kilo, or processing it into tonic wines that sell for around Sh1,000 a litre.

The vine, Mondia whitei, is a protected species under the Kenya Wildlife Service Act of 2013. This makes it illegal to grow or harvest without approval. But the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) and licensed suppliers such as Mukombera Suppliers Ltd are now providing legal seeds and rootstocks that do not need a licence to farm.

“They only need the technical knowledge on how to start off the farming from nursery to harvesting,” said Reuben Shanda, a KEFRI official and Mondia farmer in Malava.

The organisations are also now working with farmers on value addition and helping them to get buyers for their Mondia crops, as part of a drive to increase the cultivation of the endangered species..

“We provide rootstocks to the farmers and even seeds, but rootstocks mature faster than the seeds,” said Bashir from Mukombera Suppliers Ltd.

“We also help them access ready markets or allow them to sell the produce on their own.”

At the same time “the seeds are supplied by KEFRI at Sh2,500 per 1kg packet,” said Reuben. It takes a month to raise seedlings in the nursery, then 2.5 to 3 years for them to reach full harvest. The same plants can then be for up to 10 years.

“The maturing of the plant is characterised by seed production and flowering,” he said.

“During harvesting, the farmers need to carry out sustainable harvesting, whereby not all the rootstocks are dug out but rather some are left for continuity where the farmer can cultivate the plant for 10 years.”

Once harvested, the root is processed into two parts, the flesh, which is used to make wine, tea or chewed raw, and the inner hard white root, which is reused on the farm.

“We are even looking at whether farmers can make tooth picks from the hard core,” said Reuben.

“On harvesting, the plant is depulped separating the flesh from the inner hard white root. The white hard root can also be used for mulches in the farm.”

But, he said, “the roots must be thoroughly cleaned because, remember, this is a food”.

A well-managed quarter acre, or 100-by-100-foot plot, can produce half a tonne of root a year, fetching Sh250,000 at farmgate prices of Sh500 a kilo. Some farmers sell the harvested root to Mukombera Suppliers Ltd, which processes it for tea and wine.

“The company is supplying rootstocks of about 250–100kgs to farmers and sometimes even the farmers themselves sell to them the rootstocks,” said Bashir.

“We do value addition like drying it to make sure it has a good shelf life for making tea and the Mukombera wine.”

“Farmers come to us with their farm produce and sell to us as we ensure we sell the produce by sourcing local markets.”

Other farmers are now producing their own Mukombera wine, with bottles selling locally for up to Sh1,000 a litre.

Demand is also growing internationally. A French company, MANE, inquired about purchasing 100 tonnes of fresh root a year from Kenyan farmers, but no exporter has yet been able to meet the volume.

“This was a tall order and farmers were not able to supply it,” said Reuben. “But the market and the potential are there.”

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Meanwhile, international products made from Mondia now include teas, nutritional powders, flavourings and herbal oils. The US retailer Africa Imports sells Mondia powder “100% sourced from Kenya”, while, in Kenya, Mondia Tonic® was registered as a food supplement with the Kenya Bureau of Standards and Ministry of Health in 2011.

“But there’s no other legal supply of seeds/l or rootstock yet. Only KEFRI supplies certified vine seeds. It also trains farmers and entrepreneurs in the vine’s domestication, farm management, harvesting, post-harvest management, and, of course, value addition,” said Reuben.

Some farmers also already have the seeds from older and natural sources.

“Farmers who collected seeds from the forest, particularly Kakamega Forest, developed nurseries and have been selling to other farmers for domestication. Mondia seeds are also dispersed by wind and farmers who know it through their Indigenous Knowledge (IK), conserved the vine on their farms.”

The University of Nairobi is also now working with KFS and KEFRI to support conservation and research into the vine and the Kakamega Environmental Education Programme (KEEP) is training farmers in its sustainable harvesting in a coordinated drive to shift farmers from wild collection to farming the crop.

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