Brief news on farming, agriculture and agribusiness from around the country

Farmers paid after their maize crop failed

The government is banking on crops insurance to achieve food security, a senior officer in the agriculture ministry has said.

John Mwaniki, a policy director in-charge of crop insurance, said the ministry had scaled up the programme in which farmers were paid for crop failure and poor harvest in a move expected to boost their morale.

“In the past when crops failed completely or harvests were poor, farmers were left desolate and hopeless. But with this programme, they are now assured of an income even when rains fail. This will motivate them to continue farming,” he said, adding that so far, 20 counties had been covered in the programme.

Mwaniki spoke in Meru on Thursday when 253 farmers drawn from Imenti North and Tigania West were paid a total of Sh4.5 million after their maize crop failed last year.

Farmers were paid according to the number of acres under maize they had insured, with one from Tigania West taking home Sh153,000 having insured 10 acres.

Under the programme, a farmer pays 50 per cent of premium as the government catered for the rest. A consortium of six insurance companies namely APA Insurance, CIC, Kenya Orient, Amaco, UAP and Heritage are working in the programme.

Julius Muriungi, a farmer, said he would be paid Sh8,731 after his maize on an acre failed to yield 15 bags as projected.

“I paid Sh520 for insurance and I am glad that I did not go at a loss. This is very encouraging and this time I am going to insure three acres,” he said.

Dionisia M’Eruaki, county chief officer in the Agriculture department, told farmers to register in large numbers since they stood to benefit when their crops failed.

-Gitonga Marete

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Firm, varsity partner to boost agri-training

A farm machinery company has launched a training programme that will equip youths with the latest recent skills on agribusiness.

AGCO, the manufacturers of Massey Ferguson, Fendt, Valtra and Challenger tractors, have partnered with Strathmore University School of Business and Harper Adams University in the United Kingdom to offer the two-year course.

Gary Collar, AGCO Global Senior Vice-President Asia-Pacific and Africa, told Seeds of Gold that the 20 students will be trained on agronomics to enable them understand crop production and the economics of mechanisation, and the entire agribusiness cycle to help local farmers improve their production. 

“It doesn’t do any good to have entrepreneurs producing five times more than what they can without knowing where to take their produce. This is why we are emphasising on agribusiness training,” Collar remarked.

The programme is a two-year certificate course that targets undergraduate students across Africa, but the 20 students out of 400 applicants are Kenyans and Nigerians, Collar said.

The fully funded scholarship will be offered at Strathmore University in Nairobi beginning this year.

Recently, Strathmore Business School hosted an annual Agribusiness Investors Summit attended by farmers, medium to large agro-processors, policy makers, students, financiers and other stakeholders.

The forum aimed at equipping young agribusiness investors with the right skills and knowledge needed to expand their enterprises.

-Leopold Obi

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Alarm as Large-scale farmers abandon maize for sugar cane

Large-scale maize farmers in Trans Nzoia are abandoning the cereal for sugarcane despite the region being the country’s grain basket. 

The county produces at least 5 million bags of the crop annually from over 107,000 acres. However, this production is now under threat as farmers like Momanyi Nyairo, 70 and Teresia Karakacha, 40, stop growing the crop that they have planted for years. 

For Nyairo, a farmer in Kiminini sub county who owns 950 acres, he has been cultivating maize for 40 years but he abandoned the crop last year after 50 per cent of his maize was attacked by fall armyworm. 

“I have started planting sugarcane now on 80 acres and I am targeting to increase to more than 150 acres by June this year,” he explained. 

Nyairo said the government has been silent on large-scale farmers, mainly focusing on small growers. 

“In the past, there used to be agricultural extension officers who would visit farmers and advise them on better farming practices but today they rarely come and that is the reason why we are facing numerous challenges in cultivating maize,” he added. 

Nyairo is optimistic that he will get ready market for his sugarcane as he has already been contracted by West Kenya Sugar Company. 

Karakacha intends to convert 10 acres from her 15 for cane farming this year. 

She said income from sugarcane is higher compared to that from maize farming. 

“When you compare the input you put in maize farming, its a lot than what you get at the end of the day. This has forced us to take another approach in farming,” she said. 

County executive in-charge of Agriculture Mary Nzomo acknowledged the changing trend, noting some farmers are growing the cane themselves while others are leasing their land.

Azariah Soi, the Kenya Seed Managing Director, said that there was need to look into the farmers’ problems and come up with policy on how land can be utilised in the region for seed production and food security.

-Gerald Bwisa

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County, Embassy to launch Sh125 million initiative for potato farmers

A new Irish potato programme will be launched next week in Nyandarua, giving a boost to farmers.

The new initiative dubbed Potato Sector Capacity Building Project is a partnership between the Embassy of Ireland and the County Government of Nyandarua.

The project will be implemented by the International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC), together with Kevian Kenya Ltd, and IPM Potato Group, an Irish company with expertise in certified potato seed production.

“The project aims at helping smallholder farmers increase their returns by training them on good agricultural practices, facilitating their access to affordable certified potato seeds and creating linkages with markets for their produce,” said Dr Vincent O’Neill, the Irish ambassador.

The envoy noted that most smallholder farmers are used to growing local varieties of potatoes, mostly suitable for table consumption, while they use recycled seeds resulting to many challenges.

“Through provision of good certified potato seeds, it is expected that the quality and frequency of potato harvests will increase,” he said noting that the embassy has pledged Sh125 million funding for the project for the next three years.

The launch, which will be held at Ol Kalou Stadium on March 14, will be attended by Governor Francis Kimemia and Ireland’s Minister for Public Works, Kevin 'Boxer' Moran.

Potato is the second most important food and cash crop after maize in Kenya and hence occupies a prime position in boosting food security, poverty eradication, and economic development.

-Brian Okinda