Juliana Wanjiku has been a fruit
farmer in Murang’a county for over
30 years.
Her three-acre farm, tucked away
deep inside semi-arid Mugumo village in Ithanga subcounty, is a beacon of hard work and resilience in an
area ravaged by dry weather.
Wanjiku started her orchard in the early 1990s when she relocated from Kigumo subcounty upon marriage.
She planted a few banana suckers and oranges that did well, encouraging her to embrace mixed farming that included mangoes, melons and lemons.
The farm provided enough income to support the family after her husband passed away, leaving her as the sole breadwinner.
In 2019 Wanjiku attended a training organised by Youth Action for Rural Development on agroecology that involves organic farming, sustainable use of biodiversity and conservation agriculture.
With water scarcity a serious challenge in her village, Wanjiku learnt to use mulching to reduce the high levels of evaporation, allowing her fruit crops to thrive even during drought.
She was also able to use locally available materials to produce her own manure, ending the need for costly fertilisers and greatly improving the soil quality of her farm.
“As a result, I have seen my harvests drastically increase and my fruits now taste better. People come from far to buy my produce,” she said.
Wanjiku spoke when she hosted a delegation of officials and farmers from Makueni county in her farm who visited to learn about agro-ecology.
Moses Mwaura from Yard said his organisation targets women in its efforts to lobby more farmers to transition to agro-ecology to boost food production.
The organisation has benefited over 900 households that have been provided with 15,000-litre water tanks and trained to conserve soil moisture.
“We have helped the households to improve the quality of their livestock breeds to get more milk and boost their nutrition and income,” Mwaura said. “When we started this programme in 2019, many of these families depended on relief food and were living in abject poverty, but now they are able to sustain themselves”.
Salome Ndunge, a champion farmer from Makueni, said she was surprised that Wanjiku had managed to plant fruit trees in a small piece of land and maximise her harvests.
Ndunge said most farmers in her county struggle to practice agri-business through conventional farming that has left many vulnerable to diseases.
“Chronic illnesses are rampant among productive farmers, which weaken the economy of our county. This is why we are benchmarking in Murang’a to show people the need for organic farming to reduce morbidity.”
Ndunge said as a farmer champion, she will make efforts to encourage as many youths as possible to take up agro-ecology and use it to boost their living standards.
Executive for Devolution and External Linkages Kiringai Kamau said as the leading county in agroecology in the country, Murang’a county is happy to support its counterparts in transitioning to organic farming.
The county has partnered with the Institute for Culture and Ecology, Participatory Ecological Land Use Management, Biodiversity and Biosafety Association of Kenya among others to upscale agro-ecology.
“We partner with many stakeholders and have since formed a multi-stakeholder platform. Once we start undertaking activities the partners come in to support, depending on their area of focus,” he said.
A course in agroecology has been rolled out in Murang’a University of Technology. So far, the county has hosted West Pokot, Vihiga, Kakamega and all 10 counties in the Central economic bloc as they draft agro-ecological policies and laws.
“We are also partnering with the Department of Health to establish a food pharmacy, the practice of using foods to boost health and eradicate chronic illnesses and we have seen a major progress”.
Makueni Agriculture CEC Joyce Mutua said her county plans to embrace organic fruit farming for local consumption and export.
The county is semi-arid and focuses on drought tolerant crops that include fruits, green grams and pigeon peas.
With 40 per cent of the population
food insecure, Mutua said, Makueni
is looking for ways to boost food production using methods that are not
harmful to the environment such as
agroecology.