The spice sisters of Kisaju: How solar tech-savvy women are securing the global herb market

Citadel Agri Merchants Managing Director Yvonne Anyonyi Mumiah in Kisaju, Kajiado County. [Maryann Muganda, Standard]

The road to Kisaju in Kajiado County is dusty. The morning air is crisp, and the landscape looks dry for miles. It is not the kind of place one would expect to find lush greenery. Yet beyond the brown plains stand rows of greenhouses where herbs and spices destined for international markets flourish.

 It is here, at Citadel Farm, that Kenyan women farmers are transforming acres of arid land into thriving export enterprises. Backed by modern cold-storage facilities that preserve quality from harvest to shipping, they grow basil, rosemary, thyme, and other high-value herbs bound for supermarket shelves and restaurant kitchens across Europe and the Middle East.

Inside the bustling farm, workers sort fresh cuttings while Yvonne Mumia Anyonyi, dressed in a red dust coat, debriefs her team. Nearby, a group of visiting women look on, eager to benchmark her techniques for their own ventures.

 Yvonne was once a pilot with JamboJet Airlines. Today, she is a commercial farmer, having traded her flying career a little over a year ago for agribusiness.

 "I started last year, right after I put my job down," she says. She leased 15 acres of land and initially set up eight greenhouses, alongside five acres of onions and nine acres of chillies.

 The capital required to establish the infrastructure was substantial. "We needed almost Sh15 million to Sh20 million just to start," Yvonne explains. To raise it, she made a high-stakes bet on her vision: "Yeah, I sold three of my houses to start this project."

 It wasn’t a lifelong love for agriculture that pulled her in, but a desire for financial independence and community impact. "What I was passionate about was having my own business, one that has an impact on the community and society," she says. "I’m more of an analytical person. I like my numbers, so I did my data and analysis, and I found that this thing is actually good. Every shilling I made in those early months went straight back into the farm."

 What began as a modest herb patch has grown into a highly diverse operation. Basil remains the anchor crop—"the major one, because basil sells the rest," she notes—but her greenhouses now produce rosemary, oregano, sage, coriander, parsley, dill, marjoram, and lovage.

 Her pivot into herb farming, rather than the onions she originally planned, came after visiting a neighbouring farmer. "I saw how she’d done so well with her herbs, and she was like, 'Yeah, you can do this too.'" That connection also introduced her to specialised logistics and export channels.

 Farming for European markets requires strict compliance and the ability to navigate seasonal market shifts. "If you export into Europe and other countries, when they have their summer, it means your production will be lower; they take less from you and more from their side," Yvonne explains.

To mitigate this, she maintains constant propagation, cycling batches of 20 seedlings so she is never caught flat-footed when international demand swings back after the three-month European summer.

Getting certified for export also meant she couldn't cherry-pick a few crops; she had to grow a full range. "Most clients want a full basket before giving you orders," she says.

This certification allows her to outgrow for other exporters who need guaranteed quality, providing quick cash flow to cushion the farm’s finances. When local oversupply hit her fresh basil exports recently, she adapted smoothly: "At least I have the facilities for drying them, so the cycle continues."

 Labour has not been a hurdle, as the region boasts a mature ecosystem of herb production. Yvonne employs a permanent staff of 20, scaling up to 200 casual labourers during peak harvests, all trained strictly on standard operating procedures.

Citadel Agri Merchants Managing Director Yvonne Anyonyi Mumiah in Kisaju, Kajiado County. [Maryann Muganda, Standard]

Today, her export network spans Europe, with France being her most rigorous customer. "I’m in one of the hardest markets, which is France, because they’re very strict on their products," she says. "Most people don't like it, but I prefer it because it gives me a higher standard to live up to. When I live up to a higher standard, I'm able to withstand any other market."

While tea, flowers, and coffee dominate Kenya's traditional agricultural exports, herbs and spices have emerged as one of the country's fastest-growing horticultural commodities.

According to data from the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA), Kenya exported over 16,370 tonnes of herbs and spices worth Sh9.59 billion in 2023. Although market and production challenges caused volumes to dip to 7,662 metric tonnes valued at Sh4.65 billion in 2024, provisional figures for the first quarter of the 2025/26 financial year show a strong recovery, with export volumes rebounding by 33 per cent and value by 11 per cent.

This lucrative value chain is drawing a new wave of smallholder farmers, women, and young entrepreneurs attracted by the high returns and Kenya’s favourable climate.

Among the women touring Citadel Farm is Monica Kavwele, who travelled from Kitui to learn how to transition into export-grade herb farming. Her journey into commercial agriculture began in 2022 and has been defined by grit.

"Our first harvest was about eight tonnes of onions in Isinya, but the market was terrible. We didn't make much money," Monica recalls. "We didn't give up. We took whatever little we earned and planted again."

Next came severe water shortages that crippled production just as market prices spiked. Her farming partner quit, but Monica pressed on alone. She leased an acre for French beans, secured a direct buyer, and expanded to three acres. However, inadequate water supply struck again, causing poor flowering and low yields.

By the end of 2024, Monica had invested close to Sh1 million in land leases, drip irrigation, seeds, and labour, but recovered only a fraction of it.

"I felt like I had lost almost everything. The little money I got is what I used to relocate," she says.

Disappointed but unbroken, Monica returned to her family land in Kitui following her mother's encouraging advice: "People are farming successfully here. Maybe the problem isn't farming; it's where you're farming."

She dug a shallow well along a seasonal river, utilised a generator pump, and diversified into green peppers, tomatoes, onions, and cabbages. This time, the strategy worked. Transport costs dropped, and buyers from Mombasa began booking her harvests in advance.

Now cultivating over 100 acres across Kitui, Monica credits her turnaround to painful lessons. "The biggest mistake is relying on one crop. When onion prices crash, you lose everything. Now I diversify. If tomatoes do well and onions are low, another crop cushions the losses."

She also warns aspiring farmers against online hype. "Do your research, but don’t just read articles. Talk to farmers who have actually done it. They will tell you the real challenges because farming isn't as easy as people make it look."

 Her visit to Kisaju is driven by a desire to integrate solar-powered irrigation and cold storage into her vegetable enterprise. "Seeing women like Yvonne succeed gives me confidence that it’s possible," she says.

Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, onions, oregano are some of the spices that make the 42 green houses at the larger farm of Citadel Agri Merchants in Kisaju, Kajiado County. [Maryann Muganda, Standard]

Not far away is Jane Mutinda’s farm. Jane entered agribusiness in 2017 after steep rents and fierce competition from cheap imports disrupted her textile business in Eastleigh, Nairobi. She began with three acres of onions in Kisaju before a tour of a nearby export herb farm altered her business model.

"The math convinced me," Jane recalls. She phased out onions, built four greenhouses for basil, and within a year expanded to ten greenhouses alongside open fields of perennial thyme, rosemary, oregano, and sage. By 2024, she had secured GlobalG.A.P. certification, opening doors to the Netherlands, France, and the UK.

However, infrastructure limitations threatened her growth. The local boreholes frequently dried up, stressing her sensitive basil crops and shortening their shelf life, which led to costly rejections at destination airports.

Cold storage was an even bigger hurdle. Fresh basil must be held at a steady 10°C to prevent rapid spoilage. "When you take it to the plane with a high temperature, it will be rejected directly," Jane explains.

She initially bought a small second-hand reefer container for Sh600,000, but its one-tonne capacity fell short. She was forced to complement it by renting airport cold storage at rates ranging from Sh3,000 to Sh350,000 a day depending on volumes and flight delays.

According to Denis Karema, co-founder and CEO of Soko Fresh, Jane’s challenges are systemic. Approximately 40 per cent of fresh produce harvested in Kenya goes to waste (post-harvest losses), primarily due to non-existent or unaffordable cooling infrastructure.

"Farmers either try to harvest in the afternoon and rush produce to market under shade, build improvised charcoal cold rooms, or lease expensive refrigerated trucks to keep running during harvest," Karema notes.

To bridge this gap, Soko Fresh manufactures and deploys mobile, solar-powered cold-storage units. Rather than demanding millions upfront, the company offers a flexible rental model where farmers pay roughly Sh1 to Sh2 per kilo stored, or lease a full room for about Sh70,000 to Sh80,000 a month. Long-term buyers can also spread equipment payments over four to five years.

Soko Fresh currently manages dozens of cold storage units across 17 counties, stretching from Marsabit, Kwale, Laikipia, Kiambu, Murang’a, Kajiado and Kisii, among others, serving thousands of smallholders. The company is now expanding its thermal-cooling technology to support poultry, dairy, and fish farmers.

Managing agricultural cold chains requires precision because crops remain living, breathing organisms after harvest. Storing incompatible items together can lead to disaster; for instance, tomatoes and bananas release ethylene gas, which prematurely ripens neighbouring produce. To prevent this, Soko Fresh integrates crop-compatibility alerts directly into its digital platforms.

Business Development Lead for Soko Fresh's cold storage division Evans Komen explains that these hybrid units run primarily on solar power but can seamlessly switch to grid electricity or small generators.

A standard 20-foot container unit holds up to five tonnes of produce or 250 standard crates, while smaller two-tonne units help separate crops needing distinct microclimates.

"Different crops require different storage temperatures," Komen says. "Basil requires between 8°C and 12°C, while others need temperatures as low as 4°C."

Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, onions, oregano are some of the spices that make the 42 green houses at the larger farm of Citadel Agri Merchants in Kisaju, Kajiado County. [Maryann Muganda, Standard]

The system's efficiency relies on an innovative thermal energy storage design. During the day, the solar-powered compressor cools the room while freezing built-in ice cores. At night, the compressor shuts down, and the ice cores naturally release cold air to maintain the temperature. This setup requires only four hours of sunlight to ensure uninterrupted 24-hour cooling.

To ensure operational discipline, the units are monitored via the EcoFrost app. Every door opening is tracked, as excessive openings let in warm air and strain the system. The app also serves as a vital remote diagnostic tool for isolated farming areas.

"The locations where these units are installed are often quite remote," Komen adds. "Through the app, we are able to check system performance, monitor electricity consumption, and troubleshoot units remotely before produce is compromised."

Denis Karema’s advice to expanding commercial farmers is direct: Rent, don't buy.

"Don’t run to buy cold storage. Get it on a lease first. Think about how to make Sh2 on every kilo pay for a cold room, rather than how to find Sh4 million upfront," Karema advises.

Crucially, cold storage alters a farmer's bargaining position. Without it, a fresh harvest becomes a liability within days, forcing farmers to accept lowball offers from brokers. With it, herbs hold their prime condition for weeks, buying women the time needed to secure fair market rates.

Even with solid infrastructure, agronomic management remains a continuous battle. Basil is highly vulnerable to thrips, whiteflies, and devastating fungal diseases like Fusarium and Botrytis, the latter fueled by trapped greenhouse moisture.

"It will dry almost the whole greenhouse if you aren't careful," Jane says. "You have to learn about the diseases and carefully regulate your watering."

Production costs add another layer of pressure. Because herbs are consumed raw, exporters must adhere to stringent chemical residue limits, forcing them to use expensive biological products with zero-day pre-harvest intervals. Quality water-soluble fertilisers used in fertigation systems also command a premium.

Jane says entering the business without a secured market and proper preparation is a recipe for loss. "First, you have to do your benchmarking. Come and learn about the crops, the pests, the diseases, and the temperature requirements before you plant a single seed."

Beyond agronomy, Jane has focused her energy on building support structures for women in the region. She leverages exporter networks and digital platforms to connect women farmers, viewing financial independence as a powerful tool against isolation and economic vulnerability.

"When you farm, you are happy to meet people, collaborate, and earn your own cash. You stop depending entirely on others. Empowering women remains close to my heart." Jane says.

The successes achieved by Yvonne, Monica, and Jane reflect a broader global movement. The International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF 2026) shines a spotlight on the vital roles women play across global agrifood systems, producing, processing, and trading the food that sustains local economies.

 Historically, persistent inequalities have limited women’s access to land, capital, technology, and export networks. By closing these gender gaps and investing in cold-chain technology, remote agronomic training, and secure marketing channels, Kenya's herb farming sector is proving that empowering women yields tangible economic rewards.