Our farms haven’t failed, market is the challenge

As five professional harvesters donning long blue dust coats walk into a two-acre banana plantation at Kagio in Kirinyaga County, Patrick Nderi smiles broadly as he ushers in his much awaited guests.

It is a day Nderi had been looking forward to.

Nderi is among hundreds of banana farmers who have been suffering in the hands of middlemen as lack of skills on how to handle their harvests forces them to sell at throw away prices.

Nderi is optimistic that Twiga Foods, a company that connects rural farmers to urban retailers in informal markets, will end his woes and that he can finally reap from his hard work. 

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The company, which gives agronomy support to registered farmers, is empowering them with post-harvesting skills which has been their greatest challenge.

Nderi, a retired teacher, clutches a sharpened machete and slashes some drooping banana leaves blocking the rows. His joy speaks of the impending benefits he will reap by the end of the harvest.

One harvester, David Mugo, eager to have the job started walks straight to a propped sucker standing precariously under the heavy weight from the long bunch of fruits. With one strike of a machete, he cuts the trunk as he holds the tip of the bunch to prevent sudden fall that might crush the fruits.

The banana bunch sags towards the ground in slow motion until it rests on the back of a leaning scout. Mugo disjoints the bunch from the tree before carrying the bunch on his back to a shade under a tree where all the harvested fruits are placed.

Everything the harvester does, from letting the bunch fall slowly and rest on his back and taking it to a cool place under a shade is intended to minimise physical injury to the bananas.

According to Daniel Sila, a food scientist at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), post-harvest handling is a great problem that has for long been the source of losses for banana farmers as they lack the capacity to handle the fruits after harvesting.

“Bananas with bruises rot away very fast and even if they make it to the market, it is difficult to convince someone to buy a banana that is bruised. They are all thrown away,” says Dr Sila.

Angela Wachira, a communications officer at Twiga Foods, says the company’s aim is educate the farmers on the best practices during and after harvesting, adding that despite being a favourite fruit in the country, farmers having nothing to write home about their trade.

Farmers like Nderi received the company with both hands when it knocked on their doors. Nderi confesses that sometimes he would let his bananas rot than sell them at a throw away price.

“I no longer have to worry about my bananas falling during harvesting. Selling at poor prices is also a thing of the past as the company also connects us to the buyers in urban areas,” adds Nderi.

Nderi says he has become a better farmer as he now knows how to deal with pests and diseases which had been a nightmare before.

 “There was a time I lost over 20 suckers during a dry season. That is Sh10,000 worth of fruits. Since then I apply ash on the soil near the roots and sometimes use recommended pesticides,” explains Nderi.