Desert Gold: The high-return fruit transforming arid Kenya
Smart Harvest
By
James Omoro
| Oct 16, 2026
If you live in semi-arid parts of Kenya, you are likely to have come across the wild cacti, or desert cacti.
The wild cacti resemble the dragon fruit cacti. Some people reckon they are the same.
However, the difference is that the wild cacti grow as upright, self-supporting columns, globes, or pads in arid, sun-scorched deserts.
By contrast, the dragon fruit cacti are climbing, semi-epiphytic vine cacti that naturally scale trees, rocks, or structures using aerial roots.
Dragon fruit originated in Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. The dragon fruit cacti belong to the genus Selenicereus.
Several cacti species bear dragon fruit, including Selenicereus undatus, which produces pink-skinned fruit with white flesh. Selenicereus costaricensis also produces pink-skinned fruit with vibrant red or magenta flesh. Finally, Selenicereus megalanthus produces yellow-skinned fruit with white flesh.
Dragon fruit is new to many Kenyans. It was introduced to the country in 2015 through seeds and cuttings imported by individuals such as Dr Freddie Acosta from Strathmore University.
Commercial cultivation of dragon fruit began around 2019.
Many are unaware that the dragon fruit is edible because they have never seen it.
But initiatives are underway to scale up dragon fruit production for commercial purposes.
Anthony Mugambi is one of the local farmers who became an early adopter of dragon fruit cactus propagation.
Mugambi, who is an engineer, says people gave him the tag “insane farmer” due to his decision to plant dragon fruit cacti on his farm.
He ventured into serious commercial dragon fruit farming in Kathura village, Imenti Central Sub-county, Meru County, in 2020.
However, the surrounding community’s initial reaction was scepticism, viewing wild cacti as having no economic value.
“The people in my village called me a mad man. They argued that I was growing cacti, a wild plant which had no economic value,” Mugambi said.
But Mugambi never gave up.
We met him at Africa Fruit Connect, a fruit exhibition that brought together stakeholders in fruit production, including Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture (MESHA), Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro) and other players, at the Oshwal Centre in Nairobi, where he explained how he defied the odds in dragon fruit production.
Mugambi dedicated his time and energy, hoping that dragon fruit would transform his life one day.
Dragon fruit cacti can be grown from cuttings, which take about 18 months to start producing fruit. Alternatively, the plant can be grown from seed, which takes about eight years to begin producing fruit.
“It is prudent to go for cuttings, which take less time to mature,” Mugambi said.
Today, Mugambi is greatly benefiting from dragon fruit. He currently grows dragon fruit cacti on a 20-acre piece of land.
On his farm, the crop yielded dragon fruit on 15 acres. The dragon fruit cacti on the remaining five acres are yet to mature.
He explains that dragon fruit has a high rate of return on investment.
During harvests, he gets about five tonnes per acre. This means he gets about 75 tonnes of dragon fruit on the 15 acres under cultivation in a single harvest season.
He explains that dragon fruit is lucrative and has a ready market.
Each fruit is sold between Sh200 and Sh1,000, depending on the season and availability in the market. A tonne of dragon fruit ranges from 2000 to 3000 fruits, depending on the size of the fruit.
Two or three dragon fruits make up one kilogram.
“Dragon fruit is lucrative and in high demand. I sell to those who buy in bulk at Sh500 per kilogram,” Mugambi added.
He sells the dragon fruit to supermarkets, hotels and individual buyers.
What gives Mugambi morale is that his critics have turned into supporters of dragon fruit production.
“During inception, they criticised me severely, but they have finally seen the benefits of dragon fruit. Today, they have changed from critics to champions of dragon fruit production,” Mugambi says.
Kalro produces seedlings and cuttings of dragon fruit cacti at its Horticultural Research Institute (HRI) at Kandara Centre in Murang’a County, which it distributes to farmers at affordable rates.
Faith Mucunu, a research scientist at Kalro’s HRI Centre, said they also provide farmers with modern crop production technologies through training.
“We provide farmers with dragon fruit seedlings and cuttings. We ensure farmers get modern technologies by training them,” Mucunu said.
Mucunu said dragon fruit cacti require less labour than other crops. This includes less weeding and pest and disease control.
“Dragon fruit cacti have very few pests and diseases. They also require less weeding and less water, enhancing their survival chances after transplanting,” Mucunu said.
She also explained that dragon fruit cacti production maximises the use of land where other crops cannot grow in Kenya.
She said large tracts of land in semi-arid parts of Kenya lie fallow because they cannot support the growth of many crops, yet residents of those areas can put them to good use by cultivating drought-resistant crops, such as dragon fruit.
“Production of dragon fruit is enabling farmers to make money on land which cannot support the production of other crops due to scarcity of rainfall,” Mucunu explained.
Dr Everlyn Okoth, a lecturer in the Food Science Department at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), said dragon fruit production does not require a lot of labour.
She pointed out that once the crop is planted, it is left to grow, with harvesting taking place in two or three years.
“Dragon fruit cacti do not require much labour. Once they begin to grow after transplanting, you only need to carry out minimal farm maintenance while you wait for harvest in about two years,” Dr Okoth said.
She urged people in arid and semi-arid regions to make use of their land for dragon fruit production.
“The journey of promoting dragon fruit production is going well in the country. Let farmers in arid regions produce the fruit,” Dr Okoth said.
She noted that the dragon fruit is rich in vitamins A and C, minerals, and fibre, which cleanse the body.
“Dragon fruit is very nutritious. Its consumption adds a lot of minerals and vitamins to the body,” Dr Okoth says.