Category: Production

Milk production in Nakuru has been rising gradually in the past four years due to adoption of good agricultural practices by small holder farmers and increased investments in milk collection and cooling infrastructure by the Ministry of Agriculture, the County Government and private sector players.
Governor Lee Kinyanjui said implementation of the Sh 570 million Nakuru County Dairy Value Chain Strategic Plan (NCDVCSP) and support from National Government’s Agriculture Sector Development Support Programme Phase Two (ASDSP II) has transformed many smallholder farms in the region into profitable ventures with farmers reaping the benefits of embracing new dairy technologies.
“Nakuru County now produces an average of 300 million litres of milk annually, an improvement of over 25 per cent since 2019 making it the third leading devolved unit in milk production in the country with 381,600 dairy cattle after Kiambu and Murang’a counties,” noted the Governor.
According to Mr Kinyanjui this has also been made possible through sustained empowerment by processors such as New KCC and Brookside Dairy Limited through training on good dairy practices that encourage growth in milk volumes.
“Thanks to interventions put in place by the County Government, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries through the ASDSP II programme and our partners in the private sector, dairy farmers in Nakuru are pocketing at least Sh 1.6 million daily in raw milk sales to processors. The growing fortunes of dairy have seen nearly every household in all the 11 Sub Counties, especially those in the rural areas, keep at least one dairy cow, as families seek a regular source of income,”
Dairy farmers in Nakuru earned Sh 11.7 billion from the sale of 300 million litres of milk last year with exotic breeds accounting for 60 per cent of milk production and indigenous ones 40 per cent.
In an interview with the press the Governor indicated that the joint initiative by his administration, the National Government and private sector partners incorporates upgrading local breeds to boost milk production.
“Farmers have been upgrading their local breeds through artificial insemination with support from both levels of government and other stakeholders. Over 6,000 farmers have used superior semen from approved bulls to serve cows so that the subsequent generation is improved to pedigree breed.”
He said the cows have been serviced with various breeds that include Guernsey, Friesian, Ayrshire, Boran, Jersey and Sahiwal. Under the ASDSP II programme to over 5,900 farmers in Kuresoi North, Molo, Njoro, Bahati, Subukia, Naivasha and Bahati sub-counties have received fodder planting material for the establishment of bulking sites to help them increase protein content in animal feed. The farmers have also been taught on establishment, preparation and storage of fodder.
Training of a further 5,700 farmers through ASDSP II programme has also addressed quality and safety of dairy products, low milk production, inefficient markets and unstable market prices, inappropriate land-use practices and post-harvest losses of dairy products.
“Climate-smart actions in the dairy sector in Kenya have a huge potential in spurring growth in the milk value chain. That’s why feed preparation and conservation is a critical aspect in sustaining production throughout the year,” added the Governor.
Mr Kinyanjui observed that his administration has already handed over two-3000 litres bulk milk cooling plants to Ndafithi Self Help Group and Maiella Dairy Cooperative Society respectively.
The total cost of the projects was Sh 23 million. The Sh 8.9 million Kirima Milk cooling facility in Naivasha Sub-County is also operational.
The County boss said his administration has allocated Sh 7 million to seven dairy farmer cooperatives to modernize their operations. The involvement of co-operatives along the dairy value chain he said has also enabled farmers to better manage transaction costs involved during the marketing of raw milk.
Mr Kinyanjui stated that his administration has brought together 13 milk farmer groups under the umbrella Nakuru County Union of Dairy cooperatives which were jointly yielding 40,000 litres of milk per day.
“Brokers and milk transporters who profiteer from dairy farmers’ sweat will soon be out of the way as we invest in dairy infrastructure while farmers use cooperatives to directly engage processors.
He noted once cooperative movement is fully adopted in the daily subsector, farmers will be able to get rid of costly transporters, and thus get more share of the producer price paid by processors.
“A co-operative mode will enable Kenya to modernize its dairy sector where farmers will be compelled to sell milk via dairy societies that also become channels for quality monitoring, credit access as well as dairy husbandry training,” added Mr Kinyanjui.
Traditionally, transporters collect raw milk from farmers and market the same to various outlets only for farmers to be paid at a set price minus Sh3 a litre as transport fee. This sees transporters bargain for better prices but retain low prices for farmers.
Mr Kinyanjui notes that the county had spent Sh 40 million on a free livestock immunization programme in 11 sub-counties and has distributed Artificial Insemination kits to Dairy Cooperatives as a way of improving dairy animal breeds.
The national government has further distributed seven milk automated teller machines valued at Sh 1.7 million to farmers in Naivasha, Gilgil, Bahati, Subukia, Njoro, Molo and Kuresoi North sub counties.
Mr Kinyanjui affirms that towards improving access to markets for dairy farmers, the County Government has been focusing on rehabilitating and developing infrastructure in rural and farming areas.
“Every year we have been making Sh 1 billion budgetary allocation towards improving road infrastructure in farming areas of this county. We want farmers to have easy access to markets and industries to acquire raw materials without incurring huge costs” says the governor.
Acting County Director of Livestock Production, Ms. Virginia Ngunjiri said the devolved unit has set up 11 milk cooling stations and milk sheds for eleven Cooperatives across the devolved unit to reduce the time farmers take in moving the perishable commodity to the facilities.
The facilities also have standby generators to mitigate power outage woes, boosting their output. In addition the cooling facilities are bulking, chilling and pasteurizing raw milk before it is transported to processing facilities
“They are also enabling dairy farmers to store their milk and sell it to processors at a good price and at their convenience,” Ms Ngunjiri indicated.
Among the beneficiaries are Biashara Wakulima Dairy Cooperative from Biashara Ward from Naivasha Sub-county who have received two milk cooling facilities with a total capacity of 5,000, Teta Farmers in Kuresoi South who have gotten a 3000 Litres cooling plant, Elbam Cooperative Society in Molo Sub-County (3000 ltr) and Burgei in Rongai sub county (3000ltr).
County Government in partnership with Egerton University have also launched the first pilot solar milk cooler in Bahati Sub County at the new Nakuru Fresh Dairy Farmers Cooperative Society while Starlight and Rongai Acacia dairy cooperatives equipment in Kuresoi North and Rongai sub counties respectively have been equipped dairy value addition machines.
The equipment includes 500 litre milk pasteurizers, 300 litre milk dispensers and milk cooling systems of 1000 litres.
According to the county’s department of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, 70 per cent of the total land acreage in Nakuru is agriculturally productive, with a huge capacity for livestock production, especially for dairy cows.
Many farmers in the region are making good profits with all the country’s major processors collecting milk both in the lower and high altitude regions of the county.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Swarms of African armyworms have invaded farms in parts of Nakuru County, threatening starvation for humans and livestock.

County Agriculture Chief Officer Mr. Kibet Maina indicated the destructive worms had infested over 10,000 hectares of land in Rongai and Subukia Sub-counties by Sunday.

While stating that the African army worm was more destructive than the fall armyworm Mr. Maina stated that the county administration had dispatched certified spray service providers (SSPs) to help farmers in affected regions in managing and eradicating the pest.

“The County government lays a lot of emphasis on food security and nutrition and the creation of wealth through agribusiness. We are addressing the African armyworms infestation with prescribed pesticides and other cultural methods,” said the Chief Officer.

Mr. Kibet revealed that the migratory pest was first spotted at Ndatho Village in Waseges ward within Subukia Sub-County feeding on germinating crops and other vegetation.

“The African armyworm is different from the fall armyworm. The fall armyworm normally eats young green maize alone. The African armyworms are so deadly because they feed on the entire crop and are active both during the day and in the night. But we are in control and have taken the necessary steps to stop them from spreading any further,” Mr. Kibet explained

The African armyworm mainly attacks cereals, grasses, barley, pearl millet, African millet, maize, oat, rice, sorghum, sugarcane, wheat and pasture grasses.

Mr. Kibet stated that the devolved unit was offering logistics to its agricultural field extension officers to sensitize farmers on how to identify the pests and spray with the right chemicals to contain their spread.

The Chief Officer said the SSPs further trained small scale farmers in the affected areas on proper usage of the pesticides adding that among responses lined up are training of all stakeholders involved in control operations, dissemination of technical information, public awareness and enhanced data collection from the field to a centralized data centre at the County.

“The training by SSPs included how to maintain personal safety for the spray providers, other humans, livestock, the environment and other forms of life, as well as responsible use of pesticides for maximum effectiveness,” he added.

Mr. Kibet added that the Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries had put in place a framework for collaboration and monitoring of migratory and invasive pests adding that it was liaising with various agencies to empower small-scale farmers through training to fight the pest as well as create buffer zones to curb the spread of the armyworms to other areas.
The current outbreak comes at a critical time when farmers are in the devolved unit are in the main maize planting season.

A report compiled by the State Department of Crops Development and Research indicates that 500,000 acres of land in Kenya have been affected by the destructive pests.

According to the Principal Secretary in the State Department for Crop Development and Agricultural Research Dr Francis Owino most farmers in 33 worst hit counties started seeing the pests as early as February.

Mr. Kibet said the African armyworm was one of the three plant pests in Kenya that pose a great threat to food and nutrition security, alongside desert locusts and quelea birds.
He added: “while the County Government is committed to supporting the national government’s initiative to install and revive the African army worm warning system and monitoring we will remain at the forefront in reporting, overseeing execution of control operations and community awareness.”

The African armyworm is a transnational migratory pest of economic significance due to its high reproductive capacity, rapid development, high mobility and intensive feeding habit.

The African armyworm caterpillars are reported to have previously destroyed thousands of hectares of food crops in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Zambia.

They found their way in Kenya from Ghana and South Africa due to climate change. The African armyworm is mainly found in the grasslands of Africa and Asia. Within Africa, it is mostly seen in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and South Africa.

Failure to contain the pests or delays in tackling them can potentially lead to 100 percent crop and pasture loss.

A report by FAO last year stated that climate change-induced pest dispersal poses a threat to food security.

The report noted that pests such as the African armyworm are often impossible to eradicate once they have established themselves in a new territory, and managing them is time-consuming and expensive.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Kiambu Coffee Growers Cooperative Union Director Peter Njogu has decried the current poor state of coffee production in the county.
Speaking to KNA, he noted that the biggest hindrance in the coffee industry in the region was urbanization which has seen residents converting their agricultural lands into Real Estate.
“People are converting agricultural lands meant for farming production into housing land. For example, some parts of Kiambu road which was meant for coffee growing has been converted into real estates and residential places,” he said.
He added that climate change has also played a big role in lowering coffee production and forcing farmers to resort to other ways of investing.
“The cutting down of trees affects the growth of the coffee due to lack of rains and this has led to inhabitation of different pests and diseases thus affecting the production negatively,” Njogu added.
Njogu urged the Nairobi Stock Coffee Exchange (NSCE) to reduce the involvement of auctioneers in coffee selling and instead indulge with the farmers directly saying this will fetch them good prices unlike the traditional routes of auction or cartels
The Nairobi Coffee Exchange is mandated to manage the coffee central auction in the country.
Njogu urged the government to continue fighting for farmers by coming up with right policies as well as refrain people from converting agricultural farms into commercial and residential estates.
Tom Njoroge, a middle-aged coffee farmer from Kiambu County talking to KNA said that as farmers they have been experiencing challenges especially when it comes to coffee prices due to middle men.
“Farming has been my lifetime job and the production has been amazing but the prices at which our products are being bought by the middle men is demoralizing and that is why most people are moving away from coffee farming,“he said.
He however acknowledged that the current prices by the government of Sh100 per kg is a good move but it is still little if they look at the investment and effort they put in from production to the harvest.
According to the economic survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) 2021 the coffee production dropped by 18 percent. The output was recorded at 36,900 tonnes in the 2019/20 season, down from 45,000 tonnes in the previous year.
The Ruiru 11 variety is the most grown coffee type in Kiambu due to its high productivity and ability to resist pests and diseases.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Plans are underway to boost fish production in Homa Bay county to lock out imports from China, Lakes Turkana and Naivasha that flooded the market due to a deficit of supply in Lake Victoria basin.
Subsequently, a Sub-Saharan fastest growing fish farm dubbed Victory Farm has put in place new modalities to boost fish production in the region to address the shortage that saw an influx of foreign products in the local market.
Speaking to KNA, the Farm’s Chief Development Officer Caesar Asiyo said that the farm was in a position to produce 8,000 metric tons of fish per year which is a step that could help in curbing fish shortage.
“As an organization, we are capable of producing up to 8000 metric tons of the foodstuff annually to help solve issues with fish deficit,” said Asiyo.
Asiyo said that through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), they also distribute fingerlings to the local farmers who undertake fish farming in ponds in Homa Bay, Siaya, Kisumu and Migori counties to help them boost production.
According to Victory Farms’ Chief Aquaculture Officer Steve Moran, they are trying to produce even a larger volume of fish as compared to the current number in future as a way of creating a significant impact in reducing fish shortage in Kenya.
“Our main aim is to produce more fish to ensure that we also play a role in curbing the problem of fish shortage in the nation,” said Moran.
The organization, established in Rowo Village in Suba Sub-County, is exercising cage fishing with about 500 cages in Lake Victoria.
The Co-ordinator of Aquaculture Business Development Programme Michael Omondi said that Kenya currently has a fish deficit of 400,000 metric tons per annum, but Victory Farm is putting in efforts to bridge the gap.
“Victory Farm is not only distributing fish in the Nyanza region, but also in other parts of the country. We are optimistic that their efforts will contribute in curbing the shortage,” said Omondi.
He urged the locals to embrace fish farming to boost their economic standing and help in reducing the problem of fish shortage in the county.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The government is working on improving dairy cattle breeds for increased milk production through development of a sustainable heifer delivery model that is targeting small holder dairy farmers.
Through the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), the government is racing against time to reintroduce and increase the population of superior Sahiwal Cattle in Kenya after it became apparent that the country is on the verge of losing the breed.
Sahiwal cattle in Kenya are descendants of some 60 bulls and 12 cows imported between 1939 and 1963 and KALRO is one of the leading world’s custodian of Sahiwal, a dual-purpose (meat and milk) breed which is highly tolerant to semi-arid and arid conditions.
KALRO, Director General Dr. Eliud Kireger says that the government through National Research Fund (NRF) has funded KALRO for a three-year program to restock the superior breed of Sahiwal for the Maasai community in Transmara South, Narok County through a community-based genetic improvement and multiplication program.
“Despite the importance of Sahiwal cattle, its’ production is affected by several challenges including acute unavailability of quality climate resilient breeding stock, inbreeding which leads to loss of genetic diversity and low productivity,” Dr Kireger said.
Currently, Dr. Kireger noted that accessing the right Sahiwal heifers and bulls at affordable prices has been the worst nightmare for many farmers, especially Maasai pastoralists across the country who heavily rely on Sahiwal genetic resources for their livelihood.
He added that these trends, if unchecked, will permanently lock Sahiwal farmers into abject poverty.
“Currently, it is a race against time for the research team to address the whole challenge of access to superior Sahiwal top genetics in Kenya.” he said but added that so far, the KALRO-led program has assisted the community to produce 309 superior Sahiwal AI calves (males and females) which were distributed among members of community-based breeding scheme in Transmara.
He noted that 1,234 Sahiwal cows and bulls have been registered with Kenya Stud Book into either foundation or pure-bred classes since the start of the three-year program.
“The registered animals have been issued with certificates by the Kenya Livestock Breeders Association and their market price has increased threefold,” Dr. Kireger said.
He explained that through the programme 65 farmers and extension personnel have also been trained on good Sahiwal cattle management practices while nine elite and progressive Sahiwal cattle farmers have been exposed to ARTs training.
To achieve effective population and genetic diversity for Sahiwal cattle, the Director General said that the program targets to mobilize the whole community including women for the cause on genetic improvement and multiplication of Sahiwal genetics.
KALRO, Dr Kireger said hopes to replicate the program in other parts of the country to boost Sahiwal cattle production adding that by the end of the programme, it is expected that there will also be an increased Sahiwal cattle resilience, and therefore, translating to higher production with surplus for sale and farmers enabled to secure their food and nutrition security.
Dr Samuel Mbuku, a livestock breeder and the principal investigator in the project and leading scientists from Veterinary Research Institute in the programme, said the multiplication program involves use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs), specifically estrus synchronization and Artificial Insemination (AI) to enable and increase the rate of genetic progress, faster multiplication and distribution of top most proven Sahiwal genetics among farmers.
“The main challenge for Sahiwal cattle is access to the breeding stock, breeding males and females and we found out that many farmers were forced to queue for this breed at KALRO Naivasha and this was not sustainable”, he said.
He noted this brought about a conscious decision to have a multiplication programme which was to accelerate the access of the genetic material by farmers in the Narok County
“Broadly, we wanted to increase milk yield output in this area, we wanted to have many breeding animals especially males and in that way look at lowering the cost of the animals in terms of purchasing from Naivasha. Now farmers are no longer going there to look for the genotypes since they can get them locally”, Dr. Mbuku said
He noted that since they kicked off the programme, by training the villagers who were in 12 clusters, they have over 170 bulls locally with farmer groups in the Lolgorian division in Transmara where the appetite for the breed was very high and the genetic material is circulating in the area.
Jameson Olenagida, a livestock farmer from the Maa community said “we used to keep the kienyeji cows but since the introduction of the Sahiwal heifers, the community has upgraded and slowly by slowly embraced the new breed.”
“We have realized it has a lot of benefits, giving us both milk, meat and money. Initially we used to travel to Naivasha to buy ordinary cows and could use almost up to Sh 270,000 for buying and also transporting with the lorries experiencing a lot of problems,” he explained.
Wilson Kipeno, the community coordinator said once the farmers got training from KALRO on the AI technology, they are moving away from the ordinary cow keeping to a better one which is confined.
David Mosingo, another farmer said initially they were not aware of the breeds they were keeping and they kept on experiencing the challenge of ticks and water.
“Sahiwal breed is resistant, they grow quickly and are good for any climate”, he said
Noonkuta Sampei, said that when she had the ordinary cows, she would milk many in order to get enough milk but for the Sahiwal breed, she only has to milk a few of them to get enough.
The Sahiwal is one of the best dairy breeds. It is tick-resistant, heat-tolerant and noted for its high resistance to parasites, both internal and external.
Cows average 2270 kg of milk during a lactation and much higher milk yields have been recorded. Its bull weighs about 600kg, twice the average weight of local breeds with a price of a calf aged around one year going for up to Sh40, 000
The Sahiwal cattle breed in Kenya had been reported to have a decreasing effective population size and increasing level and rate of inbreeding which imply declining genetic variability hence the 3-year project funded by NRF dubbed “the Smallholder Farmers Access to Improved Cattle Genetics in Kenya: An Accelerated Dairy Heifers Delivery Model Utilizing Reproductive Technologies”.

Source: Kenya News Agency

There’s a looming maize shortage in Nakuru city and local stockists have raised the alarm over the scarcity of the staple food due to suppressed supplies.
The Manager of Menengai Flour Mill Peter Kimani said for the last one week, they haven’t received any maize from their suppliers and since Monday, they have been turning customers away due to lack of unga.
He said they mainly depended on suppliers from the East African countries. However, the middlemen informed them that their stocks have been depleted and they have no capacity of importing from far off countries.
Kimani said they milled over 100 sacks per day and their main customers were local households who purchased between two to ten kilograms of either unga number one or number two.
In addition, he said last week, they had increased their prices by 12 per cent to cater for the increased maize prices, but despite their willingness to pay more, they were unable to access any grains locally.
However, he disputed the assumption that a number of farmers were still holding on to their maize awaiting better prices and urged the government to import more maize to stall the impending shortage.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the local maize production in 2020 stood at 42.1 million bags, down from 44.0 million bags in 2019. The country’s maize flour production over the last five years has averaged 2.8 million tons annually.
The Chairman of the South Rift Farmer’s Association Justus Monda attributed the depressed supply of maize in the country to the past low prices that led to the diversification and branching out to more lucrative crops.
He appealed to the government to subsidize farm inputs to enable local farmers to increase their production and reduce the over-reliance on imports.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Maize farmers in Uasin Gishu County have been assured of government assistance to contain the spread of fall armyworms (FAW) invasion in the county.
Uasin Gishu County Agriculture Executive Committee member CEC Samuel Yego said the national government is working towards controlling the armyworms with support from the Food and Agricultural Organization, FAO.
The CEC in a press release said already, the national government had released 5,000 litres of chemical spray to the county in an attempt to counter the rapid spread of worms in Uasin Gishu.
The assorted chemicals from the Ministry of Agriculture include Deltamethrin, Alpha, Rapid, and Appeal that will be used to mitigate the invasion, said the CEC.
Yego said the fall armyworms infestation that started in Kapseret Sub County has spread to Soy and Moiben sub-counties,
He however gave hope to the farmers that the infestation is not severe and would be controlled by farmers regularly scouting their farms to detect the attack and reporting to the county authorities for quick response.
“The fall armyworm attack started in Kapseret, spread to Soy, and is now in Moiben, its effects is however not so severe,” said the CEC.
Mitigation programmes are underway and the ministry is supporting farmers who report the attack by giving them pesticides to spray the farms, he added.
By April, the county government announced that the invasion of Fall Armyworm had destroyed 121 acres of crops, 100 acres of maize, and 16 acres of Boma Rhodes grass.
In Kesses Sub County, 50 acres have been affected, while in Kapseret 16 acres have been affected, and in Soy sub-county 50 acres have been reported to be affected.
Yego has also encouraged farmers to keep scouting and reporting cases of the attack to avoid crop destruction and low yields.
He has warned of severe damages if the farmers were not proactive in reporting the cases for urgent action to be taken.
The CEC said the invasion by the fall armyworms could be attributed to insufficient rains in the region that has created a conducive environment for the worms to spread.
“We have an issue where we always get armyworms attack whenever there aren’t sufficient rains and we expected heavy rains around this time, but there is no rain. The area is warm and moist and this encourages the multiplication of the armyworms,” Yego stated.
Newly planted pasture and maize fields are particularly at risk of being attacked by the worms.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The official opening of Getong’anya Sweet Potatoes processing factory in Kuria region, Migori County early this year has renewed farmers’ hopes for a bright economic future.
The plant worth Sh117million was launched by Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa and is expected to process over 100 tons of sweet potatoes daily, allowing farmers to expand production in the area.
Within a span of three months alone since its inception, the factory has triggered a massive potato farm development in the region, and a sharp increase in production that has seen earnings shoot up by over half a billion shillings from the previous earnings.
According to statistics from the local agriculture office, farmers from the area earned Sh1.5 billion during the 2020/2021 financial year and by the end of the first quarter of the 2021/2022 financial year, the earnings increased by Sh0.5 billion to Sh2 billion
The crop that was initially produced in Kuria West Sub County alone is currently being embraced by many farmers from Kuria East, Suna West and Suna East sub-counties following the presence of the factory in the region.
“Sweet Potato product is fast dominating the County’s export market,” says Mr. Joseph Mwita, a senior agricultural official at the County Government
Mr. Mwita in an elaborate report says that land under sweet potato farming had increased in the region tenfold between the year 2017 and 2021, following better payment in the local and export markets.
Between 2017 and 2021, farmers from over 30 villages in the region produced over 270 tons of sweet potatoes and increased the production to over 300 tons by the end of the first quarter term of the 2021/2022 financial year
Mwita added that sweet potato was the fourth best produced crop in the county after sugarcane, tobacco and maize, and is fast overtaking the former crops in profit making.
The farmers’ diversification move to growing sweet potatoes in large quantities caused the European Union to donate funds towards the establishment of the sweet potato factory in the area to assist in manufacturing various products from the crop’s raw material.
The multi-million plant currently fully operational is consuming much of the raw material currently going to waste as a result of delayed sale
“The plant is consuming much of the farmers’ produce to carry out value addition on the crop to the benefit of the local and outside markets,” explained Mwita.
Migori is listed as the second-largest producer of Orange-fleshed sweet-potato (OFSP) with 11,312 hectares under cultivation after Homa Bay County, the leading producer with an area of 24,268 hectares under the production of the OFSP.
As a result of the dismal performance of sugarcane and tobacco farming and, unpredictable maize crop production in Migori, the Ministry of Agriculture in the region through the County Executive Committee (CEC) member, Mr. Valentine Ogongo encouraged farmers to extensively engage in sweet potato production to earn good income.
The Ministry has also engaged in massive distribution of quality sweet potato seedlings to farmers to support the lucrative venture.
Mr. Mwita also explained the challenges the farmers are experiencing in growing this crop, citing brokerage by middlemen as a big hindrance to farmers making good profit from the crop.
“There are unscrupulous people who have become brokers between the crop farmers and buyers from outside, but are denying our farmers from making good profits,” he said.
He added that they are looking for better ways of offering the farmers a steady market without them going through the middlemen who block them from getting good profits.

Source: Kenya News Agency

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA — Meta, the company that owns Facebook, is hosting its second annual Africa Day campaign to promote Africans who are making a global impact.
The content producer for the film project, South African filmmaker Tarryn Crossman, said Meta identified eight innovators, creators and businesspeople on the continent whose stories the company wanted told for the “Made by Africa, Loved by the World” campaign.
Crossman’s company, Tia Productions, teamed up with Mashoba Media to find four fellow filmmakers in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their job was to make two- to three-minute documentaries about the subjects.
“So, for example we did Trevor Stuurman here in South Africa,” Crossman said. “He’s a visual artist and his line was, I just loved so much, he says: ‘Africa’s no longer the ghost writer.’ We’re telling our stories and owning our own narratives. That’s kind of the thread amongst all these characters. They all have that in common.”
Nairobi-based filmmaker Joan Kabangu made a movie about Black Rhino VR, a Kenyan virtual reality content producing company which has worked with international brands.
“They are the pioneers around creating VR content, 360 content, augmented mixed reality kind of content in Kenya, in the wider Africa. And it’s a company which is run by a young person and everybody who is working there is fairly young. And they are really getting into how tech is being used to elevate the way we are creating content in 2022, going forward,” Kabangu said.
Of Meta’s Africa Day campaign she said, “I feel it’s celebrating the good in Africa.”
In Ghana, Kofi Awuah’s movie making has been delayed by floods in the capital, Accra. But he is determined to finish. His innovator is designer Selina Beb, whose work can be seen on Instagram and is sold online, often to buyers in the U.S. and Britain.
“She’s very unique,” Awuah said. “Based on material she uses and even the processes she uses are kind of things that tell a Ghanian or African story. For instance, she uses a certain kind of stone that you can find only in the northern parts of Ghana.”
Awuah said being a part of the campaign is the chance of a lifetime.
“My manager called me to tell me that we gotten a contract from Meta and I almost, like I had a heart attack,” she said. “When that call came, I felt this is the moment for me to express myself to the millions or billions of people who are using Facebook, who are using social media.”
Meta will also be hosting free virtual training sessions throughout the week. These include training on monetization, cross-border business and branded content.

Source: Voice of America

Meeting to address challenges faced by the continent’s coffee sector
Kenya is poised to draw various economic and socio-cultural benefits by hosting the first G25 African Coffee Summit (ACS) starting 25th to 27th of May in Nairobi.
Themed ‘Sustainable Development and Economic Growth in the African Coffee Sector’, the Heads of States and Governments of the 25 African Coffee Producing Countries shall converge to marshal consensus for integrating coffee as an anchor commodity in the African Union (AU) in harmony with the Africa Union Agenda 2063.
Speaking on Saturday at Kilimo House during a press briefing on the summit, Dr Francis Owino, Principal Secretary of State Department for Crops Development and Agriculture Research, said the summit would give Africa the leverage to address the challenges faced by the African coffee sector under the auspices of the African Union to build a united and integrated Africa.
The Summit, the PS said, would also be a big milestone in the history of the coffee sector on the African continent thus offering an opportunity to Kenya to enhance her economic growth by enhancing the export of her coffees to a number of African countries.
He added that for the last five years, from 2016/17- 2020/21, only 58,424 tons of clean coffees have been exported to 11 countries alone.
The PS noted that coffee continues to be a major contributor to foreign exchange earnings, is a source of livelihood to an estimated 10 million people in Africa and attracts direct and indirect investments.
“Coffee has contributed immensely to national GDPs and socio-economic development in areas such as rural infrastructure, education, health, employment and poverty eradication. It is also a major source of raw materials to the agro-processing industries and contributes to narrowing trade imbalances between Africa and her trading partners,” said Owino.
He said globally coffee is the second most traded commodity after oil and its turnover is estimated at USD 0.5 trillion with only 10 per cent of this turnover being transmitted to coffee growers.
Another objective of the Summit, Owino said, is to promote value addition and domestic consumption in conjunction with educating people on coffee and its benefits on health as well as expanding coffee trading regionally under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework.
“By hosting the first ACS, President Uhuru Kenyatta shall have the opportunity to enumerate the gains of his legacy of restructuring coffee reforms agenda to empower the coffee farmer among others gains,” said the PS.
Kenya shall also restore its influence in the African region and also provide regional intellectual strategic leadership and reclaim its rightful position as the centre of coffee research and technological hub of coffee trading in Africa.
In his remarks, Ambassador Solomon Rutega, Secretary-General Inter African Coffee Organization (IACO), said the Summit shall help share knowledge on the imminent danger of climate change on coffee and the ongoing global pandemic Covid-19 which has had a tremendous effect on the coffee sector from seed to cup.
“We expect that the outcome of the summit shall marshal consensus on a declaration of including coffee as an anchor commodity in the Africa Union (AU) in harmony with the Africa Agenda 2063,” said Rutega.
The Secretary-General noted that the anchoring of coffee onto the African Union shall go a long way towards unlocking the much-needed resources for revitalization of the coffee industry in Africa, urging support from the member states, to marshal the AU to admit coffee in its framework.
Kenya has been a member of the Inter-African Coffee Organization (IACO) since 1960 when IACO membership was 11 States. Today membership stands at 25 States. (KBC)

Source: MY Gov