Model banana farm where big shots come to learn best practice

Francis Mugo, a banana farmer, at his farm in Kawanjara area, Embu East sub-county. [PHOTOS: JOSEPH MUCHIRI/STANDARD]

Farmers are used to having visitors in their farms. From their customers, to agricultural extension officers and fellow farmers seeking to learn a thing or two from the farm.

But some farmers are privileged to have high profile guests visit their farms. Francis Mugo, from Kawanjara area, Embu East sub-county has been privileged to host high-ranking guests like Agriculture Principal Secretary Cecily Kariuki, Embu Governor Martin Wambora and delegations from World Bank and Equity Bank.

So what drew these big shots to his farm?

Mugo, a former miraa and coffee farmer, is doing so well with banana farming, a venture he started five years ago. Disappointed by the poor returns from the two crops, Mugo, 49, made the bold decision to go bananas.

“I changed my mind after visiting some banana farmers and I saw how they were doing well. I also attended a one-day seminar organised by Kenya Agriculture Productivity and Agribusiness Programme which opened my eyes. I took in all the information I needed ready to start this venture,” says Mugo.

To start off, he obtained tissue culture banana seedlings from a certified nursery at Sh100 each and planted them using the window method since he had to leave portion of his 3/4 acre farm for food crops.

Window method is where a farmer divides a farm into several squares and grows bananas on the edges of squares and horticultural crops in the middle.

The merits of this method is that when a farmer irrigates the crops, water reaches the banana stems resulting into blossoming tubers and stems.

Though his main focus is bananas, Mugo grows on rotation either tomatoes, French beans, vegetables and onions for maximum utilisation of his land.

He grows Fia variety of which a bunch weighs 100kgs, which he sells at between Sh12 and 15 per kilo.

The farmer started with 200 stems which matured then he sold the produce pocketing over Sh200,000. He was so motivated, he uprooted all his miraa bushes and coffee stems and replaced them with bananas.

Group power

“In my life, I had never made so much money. I realised if I planted more bananas and adopted best agronomic methods, I would make more,” he says.

To expand his project, Mugo also borrowed a practice he observed in Meru where farmers were marketing their products as a group for better prices.

He floated the idea to other local banana farmers and they formed Kawanjara Commercial Village Association where he is the chairman.

They sell their produce in the local market, to supermarkets, hotels and to individual farmers. At one point, Mugo approached Equity Bank for a loan and bought a quarter acre piece of land adjacent to his.

“I wanted Sh150,000 to top up my savings but I was told I could take even up to Sh500,000. I was to repay the loan in a year but because I was pocketing good money from my bananas, I repaid in three months,” he says.

He also bought two dairy cows and a chuff cutter machine at Sh60,000.

The farmer has two lactating cows that produce 32 litres of milk each daily, which he sells through an association at Sh33 per litre. From this, he makes Sh30,000 every month.

The challenges

Today, Mugo who has employed three farm hands, has 376 stools of bananas each having six stems.

“I direct the slurry from the cowshed to the bananas as manure. I use banana leaves and left over tubers to feed my two cows. I also make manure from them,” he says.

He earns an average of Sh40,000 a month from bananas and Sh150,000 from the onions, which he harvests within four months.

He has also rears dairy goats, rabbit and chicken for domestic consumption and the surplus he sells at the local market.

The biggest problem he faces is access to constant fresh water and so he has to pay Sh500 per month for it.

Mugo’s future plans are to acquire a one-acre shamba, put up a biogas plant and buy a vehicle to help ferry the produce to the market.

What he loves most about banana farming is the fact that it is less labour intensive.

“Bananas do not require a lot of work. They are also not very prone to pests and diseases so there is no need to spray.

From his earnings, he has managed to feed his family and educate his children up to tertiary levels and is also building a stone house.

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