Three years ago, Martin decided to do something good for the environment and earn some income in the process. After intensive research, he chose to sell honey. Armed with four thousand Kenya shillings, he bought honey at a local apiary and started selling. He instantly got a good market reception to his disbelief, as so […]
To propose a credible alternative to intensive agriculture (a model inherited from the 1960s with disastrous environmental consequences), drone startups are developing unmanned machines, using cutting-edge technologies to help farmers become more sustainable and increase their yield. What are the benefits of using drones in agriculture, exactly? To answer this question with all credibility, I […]
Anne Mugo and her husband were happy, working in Dubai. Life was good. They earned a decent salary and had all the facilities they ever craved for: good healthcare and world-class transportation. They however always wanted to come back to Kenya and bring their business home. Having spent one year working in Dubai, they wondered […]
For many years, pumpkins were regarded as one of the less important crops in Kenya. To change this mindset, Pegotty Mutai with her three friends, Esther, Lilian, and Wangeci got into a partnership for extensive research on pumpkins processing to discover how much value could be added to the product beyond making soup – which […]
It is often said that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. This statement is even truer when it comes to fruits and vegetables. One-third of them never even make it to our grocery store shelves just because of how they look. While supermarkets have a part to play in this, we must also […]
Agriculture matters. It’s the most important employer, thanks to lifting people from poverty. We are, however, yet to get its maximum potential. Agriculture is additionally the foremost significant water user and therefore the biggest driver of deforestation. Agroforestry, an agricultural method where a farmer grows trees and crops on the same piece of land, is […]
Transportation costs can limit farmers’ choice in where they sell their crops, and may affect which type of crops they grow and how much of their harvest they sell, exchange, or consume. Transporting horticultural crops can be particularly costly for individual farmers without coordination across producers, given the potential for crop spoilage. Because optimal cropping […]
Ten agribusiness innovations are set to compete for the Vijana na AgriBiz top three prizes after pitching their ideas and impressing the Vijana na AgriBiz panel of judges during the competition’s semi-finals round. The Vijana na AgriBiz judges-Wilson Karimi, Rebecca Amukhoye and Monicah Kotut- unanimously agreed that the pitches presented were great innovations within the […]
According to the International Potato Center (CIP), Potato is currently the second most important food crop after maize in Kenya, grown by 800,000 small scale farmers and generating employment for an estimated 2.5 million people along the value chain. The supply is however lower compared to the demand given the various challenges that most Kenyan […]
Joseph still remembers when the Budalangi floods engulfed his one-acre land of passion fruits, destroying all his crops and losing his investment worth Sh 700,000. This ordeal crushed his dream to farm passion fruits, a venture he says made him quit his business as a supplier. However, after losing all his passion fruits, he didn’t […]