Value addition helps farming group double earnings

By Mangoa Mosota

The affable farmer stands 6.5 feet tall.

He speaks animatedly about the good returns from his farm in the last few years in remote Kawere village, Nyakach District.

The returns of Raphael Owaka from his three-acre farm have increased tenfold, compared to seven years ago.

In a single planting season (four months) he makes about Sh100,000, while four years ago it would barely fetch Sh10,000.

"Through value addition of raw crops and proper use of land, we have been able to produce sufficient food with good returns," says Owaka, the co-ordinator of Farrow Farmers Group.

The group has 100 members, from the same village and their acreage is between one to five acres. Seven years ago, there were only 20 members.

Tissue culture

Owaka’s farm is a spectacle. There is intercropping and trees. He has grafted mangoes, and plants jatropha trees (a bio-fuel), cassava and bananas — through tissue culture.

The 61-year-old father of ten also undertakes poultry farming and rears upgraded dairy goats. There is also grain amaranth — a highly nutritious cereal. Amaranth has four varieties, which include greens, grain, combinations and ornamental.

"Diversification ensures that the yield is high. If some crop fails, others will perform. This means that we do not suffer heavy losses," says Felicia Achieng’, the chairperson of the group.

"Instead of selling our crops through middlemen, who initially used to exploit us, we add value to our crops and in the process increase our returns. I have been able to give my children decent education from the proceeds of my farm,"said Owaka.

The members have an agro-chemical and food shop at the nearby Oboch Trading Centre.

"They sell their produce in front of the shop to avoid contamination by the agro-chemicals products," says Michael Wamalwa, an officer with Swedish Co-operative Centre (SCC)-Viagroforestry, a Swedish organisation supporting the members to engage in sustainable farming.

SCC-Viagroforestry has been training farmers in several parts of Nyakach and Nyando districts in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, in the last seven years.

In Owaka’s farm there are four varieties of mangoes — Ngowe, Haden and Tommy Atkin. Through grafting the mangoes mature within 18 months, resulting in better yield.

The indigenous mangoes take about five years to mature.

Among the machines the group has are cassava chipper and amaranth grinding machine.

For their efforts, last year the organisation was ranked the best farmers’ group in Nyanza Province, at the Kisumu Agricultural Show.

They were awarded a trophy, donated by Equity Bank, after beating close to 100 other groups in the region.

Owaka’s farm is used as a training site for the farmers and has attracted many visitors, who are curious to learn about their value addition.

In the past year the group has received high profile visits. Among them Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Fisheries Minister Dr Paul Otuoma and Agriculture Assistant Minister Kareke Mbiuki, among others.