Mwangi Njomo waters his crops at Matungulu constituency in Machakos county. He now uses a water pump to farm on his one-acre farm.
Matungulu constituency is sunny, dry and dusty. Yet, in the middle of this hostile environment in Machakos County, Mwangi Njomo has created a lush paradise. His one-acre plot is teeming with corn crop, spinach, sweet potatoes, onions and tomatoes. He also keeps pigs, chicken and dairy cows.
“All this is possible because of this punitive sun,” he says. “I use the sun to water all these crops and livestock.” Njomo is one of the many small-holder farmers embracing solar water pump for farming.
The Smart Harvest and Technology caught up with Njomo on a hot June day. Clad in gumboots and an orange overall, he was busy watering his kale.
“With water and a pump, you can do wonders,” he says. “Ours is a semi-arid area. Without water you can’t do any meaningful farming. With water, now the farm is green year-round. Additionally, I feed my family from this plot and sell the surplus. I don’t need employment,” he says.
Initially, Njomo would draw water manually to irrigate the land. It was strenuous and not fruitful. “Then an engineer from Sunculture introduced me to the solar water pump. The system is on credit. I paid a deposit and then every month I remit Sh4,300,” he says.
The system pumps 800 litres of water an hour. His farm needs about 4,000 litres daily.
When it comes to sun, it’s not just about a water pump. Innovative solar technologies have offered unimaginable solutions to smallholder farmers.
Customised cold room
Ambrose Mwirigi from Kandara in Murang’a County, is busy plucking, sorting and delivering the famous Hass avocado. For long, he suffered losses and exploitation from brokers.
Mwangi Njomo's submersible solar pump.
Today, he can control the flow of his produce and increase his income. Mwirigi and many other farmers now harvest their avocados and preserve them in a solar-powered cold storage until the market improves. For the cold storage, he pays Sh2.5 a kilo daily.
“There is a solar cold storage at the market where we store our avocadoes. Now I can sell one fruit at Sh12. Initially, brokers would come during glut and pay us as low as Sh5,” he says.
His neighbour, Simon Gicugi, says: “The Sokofresh cold storage has empowered us. Ordinarily, during glut our produce would go bad. Brokers took advantage of our desperation. Not anymore.”
The cold storage facility is solar-based and mobile. It is moved from region to region to meet the needs of fresh-produce farmers. In Murang’a, about 600 small-holder farmers use this facility.
“We offer practical solutions to farmers and cut post-harvest losses as well as exploitation by middlemen,” says Simon Kamau, the Operations Associate at Sokofresh.
The container at Kandara had just been brought from Kitui where it was serving mango farmers. “We also serve Embu, Meru, Makueni and Oloitokitok farmers,” Kamau says.
The five-tonne customised cold room is lined with solar panels. Sokofresh has three such containers. One oscillates between Embu and Meru, and another is in Oloitokitok. “We are shipping in six more cold-storage containers. There is a huge demand,” Kamau says.
He says fresh-produce farmers suffer post-harvest losses of about 30 per cent due to lack of cold storage.
But if you think cooling is a hot deal, a visit to Eor-Ekule in Narok, will help you understand better the power of the sun. Here, Daniel Kariankei and his wife Abigael Morombi are taking chicken rearing to another level.
The couple has installed a potable OVO technology solar egg incubator to accelerate the production of chicks. This technology is for smallholder farmers like the Kariankeis. Retailing at Sh42,000 on credit, the PayGo gadget from Mwezi Solar, handles 32 eggs at a time. The systems battery retains power for up to 24 hours.
“This incubator will transform our poultry business,” says Ms Morombi. “Apart from rearing the chicks to chicken, we will sell some to neighbours,” she explains.
Mwezi also introduced solar lights for fishing at Lake Victoria. The model displaces kerosene lamp used by fishermen for ages. However, PayGo has its challenges – mainly monthly remittances.
Though transformative, dealers decry the high and complex taxation imposed on solar technology. Denis Kirema, the CEO of Sokofresh calls for a policy solution.
