First class in and out of varsity

By KITAVI MUTUA
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When Eric Mumo graduated from university with a First Class honours degree in 2009, he got several exciting job offers, but he declined them all. Fresh from Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology, the statistics graduate opted for commercial farming and set up his base in the most unlikely of places — his arid village of Nzangathi in Kitui County.  He started with Sh150,000 of personal savings that has now grown into a thriving farm worth Sh16 million in assets and 12 full time employees.
In just five years, Mr Mumo has built up a steady enterprise which includes dairy, fish, poultry and horticultural units on his 15-acre land and won several innovation awards. At first, his peers and some family members feared that he was gambling with his future instead of seeking formal employment. They felt, and genuinely so, that his good academic papers and young age should not be channelled into risky and unpredictable ventures like farming but rather into the flashy corporate world. However, determined to pursue his ambition, and armed with passion for his dreams and a little capital, Mumo bought a Friesian dairy cow. “I bought the first dairy cow in 2009, and soon after I added two more. I started supplying fresh milk to local restaurants” he says. Each cow was producing on average 14 litres daily, which he sold at Sh60 per litre at the nearby shops, earning Sh2,520 daily.

With the steady income of Sh75,000 per month, Mr Mumo invested the profits in more cows. Today he has 28 cows. The breakthrough came when he decided to diversify into tomatoes and water melons.  “My decision to stop relying on rain-fed agriculture and to engage in drip irrigation was the turning point as this ensured I  was in business throughout the year.”

The 29-year-old went full blast when he sunk a borehole, which enabled him to put his father’s entire 15-acre farm on drip irrigation. “In the first season, I harvested hundreds of tonnes of water melon, which I sold in Nairobi, recovering the costs of my investment and bought an Isuzu pick-up truck,” he  recalls. With a kilo of water melon then going for Sh32, each trip to Nairobi was fetching on average Sh48,000, and he could make several in one week.  When the Saturday Nation sought Mumo for this interview, we found a delegation of 80 farmers from the Embu Anglican Church Diocese learning from his simple, but effective farming techniques.

The farmer has been recognised by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Ministry of Agriculture for his outstanding innovations in food security.  Last year, he was listed among the most innovative and promising young farmers in the country, besides being pre-qualified as a dependable supplier of fish fingerlings in the region. Mumo stands out because of his ability to integrate all the farming units, where they inter-depend on each other to reduce production costs.

Having recently diversified into commercial poultry and fish farming, all the units now depend on each other and nothing goes to waste. “We’ve established a poultry incubator which gives us 528 chicks every three weeks and 10 fish ponds each with a capacity to hold more than 3,000 fish but the demand for both is overwhelming,” he said. He explains that all the four units — dairy, horticulture, poultry and fish — support each other. “Poultry manure goes to fish ponds to support the algae fed on by fish, the enriched pond water is channelled into the horticulture farm together with recycled dairy manure while the waste vegetables are fed to the chickens in a fascinating cycle which saves production costs.” 

The farmer says Ukambani region can easily sustain itself if only enough water was made available to every home. Every week, he is kept on his toes by overwhelming orders to supply all sorts of produce including day-old chicks, tomatoes, fish, milk to the market. In a good month, proceeds from milk, poultry, fish, fruits and vegetables can fetch him Sh500,000 gross. He makes more when he sells in bulk. Mumo urges the youth to dirty their hands to make money. 

His farm has created 12 direct jobs, and many others indirectly. Mumo intends to turn his farm into a demonstration centre where farmers across the region can visit and learn from the simple ideas and replicate them in their homes.

Eric Mumo Phillip feeding fish at one of of his many ponds at his Nzangathi farm in Kitui County. PHOTO | KITAVI MUTUA  NATION MEDIA GROUP

IT HAS NOT BEEN EASY

Since Eric Mumo ventured into commercial farming, he has learned on the job the hard way and overcame odds. From seeking credit to finance his projects, to marketing his farm produce and managing workers, he faced challenges he never expected. Getting a bank loan to invest in farming was his worst nightmare because the interest rates are high and there is no grace period. “Banks are asking us to start repaying their loans in the first month, and yet there is no crop that can yield results in such short time.” This frustrates many farmers.

Mumo urges the government to establish a branch of the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) in every county to support farmers. The other challenge has been lack of skilled labour, which has forced him to invest heavily in training his workers. “Most people who seek jobs in farms are semi-illiterate. Such workers cannot manage a poultry house, or monitor the health of fish or dairy cows,” he explains, adding he incurred huge losses until he started training his workers.

The farmer explains that agriculture extension services are not sufficient. “Kenya can sustain a double digit economic growth if agriculture is made a compulsory subject up to Form Four to make the youth stop their obsession with white collar jobs.” Mumo has also learnt to invest in marketing and quality of his produce.

“I’m very keen on the quality of my products because I target mostly Nairobi and export market where consumers demand the best,” he says.

Source: Daily Nation, Saturday, March 15, 2014

Viable Small Holder Organic Projects

Re-blogged from GREEN EMIPIRE FARMS courtesy of Antony Muhia

When we talk about Organic Farming for youths majority of them wonder how possible and yet they have no land for crop cultivation. Agricultural land has proved a big challenge due to the fact that the existing land is inherited and this mainly happens at the death of parents. The other option is purchasing one which is rely expensive beyond the capability of youths.

To my opinion there is a solution by adopting projects that require small portions like underutilized backyards, flower gardens and parking spaces and convert them to productive spaces.

Are you still wondering what I intend with such spaces? Well only high value crops like strawberries & basil can give you some substantial money. But rearing rabbits or mushroom growing are some of the most viable projects. The other option is value addition and processing of organic crops grown by elderly farmers who own agricultural land.

These are but just a few projects where youths can be self-employed with limited resources and make a decent living.

Antony Muhia harvesting spinach in his farm

This was my first commercial production organic plot from the successful experience of the organic kitchen garden. The plot measured 50×100 ft. equivalent to 1/8 acre.

On this plot I practiced intensive crop production and companion cropping of high value horticultural crops: Sweet & Hot peppers, Tomatoes, Italian spinach, Lettuce, Chinese cabbage, Broccoli, Asparagus, Assorted herbs & spices while observing a strict crop rotation routine.

There is a composting site at the entrance where all crop residue, fresh vegetation, leguminous crops and farm yard manure are composted to rich compost manure/ fertilizer for using at the plot.

From the sale of fresh produce I was able to construct a greenhouse measuring 25×45 feet and later on installed a drip irrigation system to the whole plot.

From the production and sales records it's evident that such a project is capable of generating sufficient income of KES 20,000-30,000 (US$300-400) a month to sustain a single household in rural or even urban Africa.

Post by Antony Muhia 

The green revolution that offers youth a chance to mint millions

By PAUL WAFULA

Armed with a wealth of experience from Israel, Gilad Millo is on a mission to make agribusiness appealing to the youth. Mr Millo, who is the head of business development at Amiran Kenya, has been at the centre of a campaign demonstrating how farming can be financially rewarding, just like any other profession that attracts the youth.

“Farming shouldn’t be taken as a last resort. Its potential is enormous, especially if the youth have it as the first job on the line. We are introducing greenhouses in schools, youth polytechnics and groups as part of an initiative to develop the next generation of farmers; Facebook farmers,” he told Money.

“The average age of the smallholder farmer in Kenya today is estimated at over 45 years. This means that in the next 20 years, a good number of them will have retired, yet the younger generation is not interested in farming,” Mr Millo noted.

Although the greenhouse technology has already won the hearts of several corporates, donor agencies, the horticulture sector keen on the export market and non-governmental organisations fighting hunger, it was yet to get significant traction on the national scale, especially among the younger population, as it is now doing after catching the eye of the youth fund.

Roses in one of Amiran Kenya’s commercial greenhouses. The company has partnered with other institutions to empower the youth in Kenya through profitable agribusiness projects. Photo/COURTESY 

Money follows the campaign to find out why thousands of young people are fighting to be on the shortlist of the 420 groups to receive smallholder farmers’ kits from Amiran Kenya; the benefits that the greenhouse concept presents; its challenges; what to look out for before sinking money in it; and why commercial banks and insurers are joining the fray.

Under the first phase of the Sh150 million Agri-Vijana Loan project being implemented in partnership with the Youth Enterprise Development Fund, every constituency will get two greenhouse kits.

A similar project is also underway, targeting 100 youth polytechnics across the country in the pilot phase. The entire project aims to install 600 kits. Almost every crop — from vegetables to flowers — can be grown under the greenhouse, but farmers must ensure that what they plant will have demand.

“Many of our clients have chosen to grow tomatoes because it is a high yielding cash crop. But there are others who are growing capsicums (pilipili hoho, which come in orange, red and green colours). These fetch high prices in the market, about Sh320 per kilogramme. Some youth at the Coast are growing sweet melons and cherry tomatoes,” Mr Millo said.

Farmers should also study how accessible the existing markets are for their produce because the goods are mainly perishable.

The total cost of the Agri-Vijana farmers kit (AFK) is Sh358,344. This includes two greenhouses, a drip irrigation system for the two greenhouses and a 400-metre open field, group training, agro support, insurance and eight per cent management fee. The loan has no interest fee, but the beneficiaries will be expected to raise 10 per cent of the initial cost.

The pilot project shows that it takes between one and two seasons to break even and start making profit, depending on the crop. A season is six months long. A complete greenhouse kit also comes with a collapsible water tank, and insurance for the crop.

“The kit also has an outside. You have the greenhouse growing cash crops but the outside, which is covered by drip irrigation for growing cabbages and sukuma wiki (kales) can provide additional income of about Sh100,000, depending on the crop,” Mr Millo said.

According to Amiran farmers, an 8-by-15-metre kit fetches between Sh250,000 and Sh380,000 while a 8-by-24-metre greenhouse can make between Sh350,000 and Sh550,000, depending on the crop’s market.

The fresh produce earnings put to shame crops like maize, where an acre produces an average of 15 bags which, at Sh2,800 per 90-kilogramme bag, fetch about Sh42,000 in a good season. “A women group in Kilifi that sold Sh120 per kilo of cherry tomatoes instead of the predicted Sh50 per kilogramme more than doubled our expected income calculations for them,” Mr Millo said.

But farmers will have to part with between Sh150,000 to Sh250,000 to have the kits installed. A complete kit comes with a package of seeds, fertilizers, agrochemicals, and tailored training from Amiran’s agronomists.

The model farms are equipped with drip irrigation systems which feed water directly to the plant. The system is timed to drip only the needed water, cutting wastage to the bare minimum. Data from the youth fund shows that 264 youth groups have already applied for financing, laying claim to Sh93.6 million out of the Sh150 million up for grabs.

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Source: Daily Nation, Money Feature

Agribusiness - A Tool for the Empowerment of Rural Women

An International Course 15th - 31st  October, 2012

Venue: MCTC - The Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center (15th – 22nd October, 2012) and CINADCO – Training Center for International Agricultural Development Cooperation (23rd - 31st October, 2012)

Requirements   

The course is geared towards professionals involved in agriculture and rural development. Candidates should hold an academic degree in related disciplines, and at least two years of professional work experience in related fields. Priority will be given  to professional staff involved in national / regional  projects, with and/or under the aegis of governmental institutions, national and/or international organizations, research institutes, universities, NGOs, etc. A full command of English is required. 

Application

Application forms and other information may be obtained at the nearest Israeli mission and on Israel's Foreign Ministry's website. Completed application forms, including the medical form, should be sent to the relevant Israeli mission, who will forward them to the MCTC Training Center in Israel, by  or  before 15th August, 2012.  

See course background, aims and more information here.