Linking Farmers to Exporters

Farmers in Nguruman must begin approaching production from a business point of view. The District Agricultural Officer Mr. Henry Siro advised farmers that agriculture as a livelihood practice, it should be able to provide profits to the farmers otherwise it’s a futile endeavor.

He was speaking at a meeting organized by Nguruman Irrigation Water Users Association (IWUA) that brought together farmers, Horticultural Crops Development Authority (HCDA) representatives, Exporters, Brokers and the Ministry of Agriculture to address low crop prices and market problems facing horticultural produce for export.

Mr. Henry Siro, D.A.O addressing farmers and exporters during a meeting. Photo by Joshua Kisemei

He said that farmers in Nguruman have Kenya Agricultural Research Institute and the Ministry to educate them and guide them on how to practice profitable farming. He also urged the exporters to buy products in a price that will benefit farmers.

Mr. Joseph Sirai, IWUA chair, in the introductions said that the market structures for horticultural produce in Nguruman was efficient a few years back but brokers and other intermediaries have spoiled the market and crop prices.

Makindu Growers and Packers, the main exporters in Nguruman, complained that produce from farmers are not stable since farmers sell to brokers when their prices are high. The exporter complained that farmers are not giving the recommended harvest period for chemicals sprayed. He recommended that for produce to be competitive in the market and to fetch good prices, it should be of good quality.

Farmers requested that a plan of action should be put in place to develop ways that the market for horticultural produce will be streamlined so that they can benefit from their farm produce. Farmers should have contracts with their brokers and exporters to balance the supply and prices.

HCDA announced the enforcing of laws regarding the registration of all agents operating in horticultural produce has been enacted. They instructed all agents and brokers working in Nguruman to register before 31^st October 2012. All agents will be required to present a list of the farmers supplying them with produce. Those farmers who do not want to register under an agent can join farmer groups and sell directly to the exporters.

The farmers agreed to abide with the set rules and in one voice promised to work with relevant authorities to address the issue of middle men who make a kill out of their produce while they suffer losses.

Nguruman Maarifa centre re-launched in style

Information communication technology has taken over all aspects of life and has proved to be a powerful tool for economic and social development. It has also bridged digital divide by fostering equitable access to modern communication technologies. Nguruman area was once ear marked among the 10 most remote tech locations in the world. (http://crave.cnet.co.uk/gadgets/top-ten-most-remote-tech-locations-on-earth-49303909/). Nguruman Maarifa centre has been instrumental in bridging the gap and now the residents has something to smile about at last.
Nguruman Maarifa centre on 10th August, 2012 had the first formal ICT training graduation held in style where more than ten stakeholders participated in an open day and more than 200 community members attended the pass out which was graced by District Agricultural Officer (DAO)Mr. Henry Siro assisted by Area DO.Mr. Japeth Bikhanga. The activity which had its theme "Using information technology for sustainable livelihoods in Nguruman" kicked off at around 10.00 am where stakeholders had enough time to explain to community members the efforts they are putting to incorporate information technology to improve community's  livelihoods.

Guest of honour inspecting AMREF stand during the open day.

The main stake holders who participated included; AMREF Kenya who were showcasing clean light that uses waste paper and used kitchen oil among other reproductive health matters, Entasopia health centre taught people matters on healthy nutrition practices.African Conservation Centre was also represented and informed participants matters concerning biodiversity conservation and people-wildlife conflict.
Agro-chemical companies like Osho and Sygenta also participated among community groups groups who displayed their products and explained their activities to participants. .

Area Chief Mr. Sereu receiving certificates from the chief guest on behalf of government officials. 

From the speeches made by the days speakers, it  was evident that the Maarifa centre has had a great role in sharpening skills  for Nguruman ICT gurus  . Mr. kasifu,  the advisory commitee chair  had this to say; "I had no idea on how to operate a computer..., I can now type and send my documents via e-mail. I have been  table to participate in business management training course at USIU university through application I made at the Maarifa centre".Chief Sereu had also his side to tell... "I have been able to update my GHRIS details and also as an administration student at Kenyatta university, I have been able to download  exams as well as sending my assignments at the Maarifa centre..., Thanks to ALIN for the facility."

Mr. Anthony Mugo, deputy Director at ALIN assured commuity members that, ALIN will do all it can to ensure that all services offered to them are timely and dress their daily challenges and information needs.

The guest of honour Mr. Henry Siro in his speech made it clear that its governments interest that every Kenyan citizen becomes ICT compliant and that, in the near future for one to get employment, He/she will be required to be having International computer driving licence (ICDL).  

Some Students displaying their certificates after the graduation ceremony.

The guest of honour issued certificates of participation to 62 graduates who had completed their training.

Information guarantees alternative livelihood to a crops farmer

Changing climatic conditions have resulted to minimal rainfall amounts, a situation that has resulted to recurrent food shortages. Nguruman area has been known to have sufficient water for irrigation all year round. This has not been the case for the last two years and many farmers are now forced to reduce their acreage or diversify their farming options. Lack of promising markets and poor infrastructure has also contributed greatly to losses incurred by farmers.

Mr. Chege attending to his tomato crop

Mr. Peter Njoroge Chege one of the farmers came to Nguruman in Jan 2011 purposely to farm, so he rents a house in Entasopia shopping centre and also a farm to cultivate in the agriculture area.

Mr. Njoroge later learned that challenges that face farmers in Nguruman like hardships in access to the Markets at Kiserian, Rongai and Nairobi due to poor infrastructure increase production costs for farmers reducing their profits and sometime leading to heavy losses.

 Mr. Peter Chege feeding his poultry

‘I learned that apart from crop farming, I also needed to incorporate other micro agric businesses so that I maximize my profits in the area because I incur a lot of expenses’ Said Mr Njoroge. ‘I wanted a small scale agri-business I can easily handle and make something out of it with minimal expenses so I had two options, chicken and rabbit’ he explained .

In April 2011, Mr. Njuguna decided engage in poultry keeping. With little knowledge about poultry Mr. Njuguna visited Nguruman Maarifa centre to find out more information about the practice.

‘I went to the library section and found a number of interesting books that provided me with a lot of information about diseases, brooding and treatment’ says Mr. Njoroge. ‘At that time I only had 4 chickens’ He added

Poultry scavenging for greens.

Mr. Njoroge says he chose poultry because they are a quick source of income, they are easy to maintain and they are free range – they are allowed to move around the compound looking for food. He gets regular income from eggs and sometimes he sells the chicken.

 ‘I also learned that to maintain a steady egg production the chicks should be separated from their mothers’… he adds. His chicken also supplements his family diet providing much needed proteins. They also provide income through egg and live chicken sales.

Some of the challenges Mr. Njoroge faces includes diseases, predators and feeding challenges. He uses aloevera to treat all diseases that affect his poultry.

upcoming open day

Nguruman Maarifa centre advisory committee in collaboration with Ministry of Agriculture invites you to participate at an information exchange open day at the Maarifa centre on 10^th August, 2012 starting from 10.00 am. All invited stakeholders will be allocated stands to showcase their products and activities.
The day’s theme will be ‘Using information technology for sustainable livelihoods in Nguruman’

New technology for KCPE cadidates

Candidates from Entasopia primary visited Nguruman Maarifa Centre on Saturday 21st July, 2012 to get a first touch on computers.

Their class teacher, Mrs. Beatrice said, she taught a lesson on communication techniques on Friday and she mentioned our Maarifa to be an available source of ICT services. It’s from that point that the students requested the teacher to plan a visit to Nguruman Maarifa Center to learn on the use of Computers for Communication.

‘Although the candidates schedule is tight for they are preparing for their national exams, they requested me to plan a visit to the centre for them during lunch hour when they finish Saturday revision’ Said the class teacher.

  Entasopia Primary school Students viewing Maarifa centre blog.

Computers was the main interest having a number of reasons as they mentioned access to information, means of communication, social networking and entertainment as the key motivational points.

Mrs. Beatrice Nyambura completed her computer training along with other eight teachers in July 2012 at the maarifa centre. They were trained in introduction to computers, Microsoft Word 2007, Microsoft Excel 2007, Microsoft PowerPoint and internet.

The teacher said it would be good to start cultivating the students’ interest early. Kelvin Koinet, ICT trainer at the Maarifa centre, took them through a preview of computers whereby they got to grasp a few but valued skills on computer operation. The students learnt about types of computers, parts, booting and entering web addresses to search for information in the net.

They got a chance to operate a computer for the first time where they viewed the centre’s blog and were also taught how to shut down the machine.

Students and their teacher posing for a photo outside the Maarifa centre expressing their excitement.

It was a short visit that made the students come back to the maarifa centre after school and have more time to enjoy the services. They even decided to join the computer classes when they complete  their national exams and before they join high school.

Rabbit keeping amidst climate change adaptation

Climate change is believed to be pushing human population to adapt to other livelihood means other than the usual traditionally known for each community. Small stock keeping has been the only option left for pastoral communities which used to hold on to large heads of livestock. Due to land degradation systems and reduced rainfall amounts, having access to  quality pasture has been a night mare and therefore the animals have either died or reduced their body conformation to sizes which fetch very low market prices or otherwise give low quality meat.

Adapting to the new means of livelihoods has not been easy for the communities and it may take them some time to fully adapt to these changes. Some have opted to go for poultry farming, fish farming, rabbit keeping and or bee keeping while others are keeping dairy goats for milk production as these activities doesn’t require their full attention and give them time to do other activities as well.

Mrs. Esther Wateri or ‘Mama Wamboi’ as they call her turned to rabbit keeping following a visit to home where she found her brothers making a kill out of rabbit keeping. “On March 2011, I visited my home in kikuyu and found many of my relatives keeping rabbit and some buyers coming to buy as many as 50 pieces of mature ones at Kshs 2,500 for supplying big hotels in Nairobi and therefore I was motivated to engage in the enterprise…,” she said.

Mrs. Wateri feeding her rabbits

She begun to search for more information on rabbit keeping and she therefore visited the Maarifa centre to learn more on rabbit keeping and their diseases, housing and general management.  

“I borrowed a book from the Maarifa centre on backyard rabbit farming in the tropics and this gave me information that I wanted to start the enterprise..,” she said. She begun with two does and one buck and now she has 15.

“I chose rabbit keeping because they are easy to manage and are less prone to diseases… Their feeds are also locally available and they litter quickly since their gestation period is only two months and one doe can litter up to 12 kindles…”

Her enterprise has not left her without challenges. “Feeding and cleaning their houses takes me a lot of time though my children help me to collect feeds after school. Once I secure a market for the product, I’m planning to employ a person to look after them… I have lost 9 kindles over the last two months as a result of wet feeds and when I referred to the book realized the problem and changed the feed, there have been no more deaths since,” she added.

Rabbits feeding on supplement pellets

She anticipates selling breeding stock to her neighbours so that when she gets a bigger market, she can buy from them. She also admits that people need to familiarize themselves with other sources of meat adding that, rabbit meat is tasty and is low in cholesterol.

Young environmentalists visits the Maarifa centre

Students from Patterson memorial secondary school environmental club paid a visit to the Maarifa centre on Sunday on their field tour to Nguruman area. Accompanied by three teachers, the 54 students were excited to have a touch of technology when they were given opportunities to operate computers, got to know the parts and their functions as well as knowing other equipments used along with the computers like scanner, digital camera and a printer.

Patterson memorial students being introduced to computers at the Maarifa centre

They  were also informed of all other services offered at the Maarifa centre and most interestingly, they all wanted to enrol for computer training.

The students were also excited with library services and publications like Baobab and Joto Africa were of great interest to many. They wished the centre was close to their school so that they can fully utilise the facility. They requested if they could be allowed to borrow books from the library through their school and they were informed to organize with the teachers and draft the subject areas they feel that they need Maarifa centre support then action can be taken immediately.   

Patterson memorial students at the Maarifa centre library

Mr Mathu, the divisional Agricultural extension officer  took the students through green house drip irrigation system where students taking Agriculture as a subject had many questions to ask. The students were interested to know inter-row and inter-crop spacing in drip irrigation system and were professionally answered by the officer in charge. Mr. Mathu also urged the students not to look down upon Agriculture since its the backbone of our countries economy and that they need to come up with innovations which will help improve the current systems.

Mr. Mathu explaining  green house drip irrigation system to students 

The students expressed their desire to be trained on computer skills and appreciated the services offered by the Maarifa centre. The same sentiments were echoed by their teacher Mr. Jeremiah Kutanya adding that, students from Nguruman area have advantage over others and have shown competence in computers because they do their training during school recess. He urged the Maarifa centre management to plan and see how they can train the students at school since they have computers which are not optimally utilized.