Four hundred widows and 100 youths in Kisumu are growing vegetables to generate income and sustain their families.
The venture is in Nyamasaria Kolwa Central ward.
They have gone a step further in value addition and are preserving the vegetables through drying to sell them later on order.
They can make Sh28,000 to Sh30,000 from their five value chains.
The Star met the Awouth Widows and Orphan CBO members during an exhibition at Tom Mboya Labour college during the FAO Farmers Business School graduation ceremony.
At their stand, Jerusa Odhiambo is busy displaying the different traditional Africa vegetables such as cow peas (kunde), Black night shade (managu), spider plant (saga) and green amaranth.
The group's chairperson Yuanita Hongo said the CBO was formed in 2018.
They are exclusively and intensively growing African leafy vegetables.
The CBO has 500 smallholder farmers, including 400 women and 100 youths.
Hongo said each member produces vegetables on an eighth of an acre. They have an aggregation unit and a cooling unit where they take their vegetables and find markets.
“We take the vegetables from group members and pay from our CBO kitty or we find markets within this region," she said.
Hongo said they also do value addition by drying surplus to be sold later.
The dried vegetables are sometime ground as the group has a posho mill. The ground vegetable can be used to make chapatis, mandazis and other food.
The group is reducing post-harvest losses by using a solar drier and charcoal cooling unit for their fridge.
Initially they were losing a lot of money because produce was thrown away for lack of buyers.
Hongo said they then applied for and received a USAID grant.
They were given Sh1.5 million under the Kenya Crops and Dairy Market systems to build a solar drier structure, a charcoal cooling unit and two walking tractors.
“We are doing quite well, working on productivity and marketing."
She said the dried vegetables are packed and waiting for the Kenya Bureau of Standards to certify them so they can be distributed for sale to local markets.
“Now we are selling vegetables on orders," she said. They sell for Sh150 and Sh250, depending on weight.
She said they also supply fresh vegetables to one of the malls within Kisumu, the Beyond Fruits and Vegetables.
CHALLENGES
Hongo said they have challenges, such as the recent floods that washed away some produce.
She said they were also affected by armyworms but they sprayed with insecticide to solve the problem.
“The other challenge is that we currently have around 70 acres we are suppose to plough.
"But we can't because we only have two walking tractors and they cannot plough. We are just doing harrowing."
INCOME
Despite their problems, Hongo said they can make Sh28,000 to Sh30,000 for their five value chains.
She said after harvesting spider plant, 40kg goes for Sh3,000 on a good day.
Cow peas go for Sh1,500 per sack. In a month they may harvest cow peas three or four times so they can earn Sh6,000 to Sh7,000.
They also have a posho mill where they sell cereals. they have water pumps, tents and chairs for hire.
"This boosts our income and enables us to support orphans," Hongo said.
FUTURE
In the next five years, Hongo said, the CBO will have grown into an NGO expanding to the entire Nyanza region.
They want more farmers because the benefits are enormous.
“We want the entire country to know the benefits of vegetables,"she said, "and continue producing them.”
-Edited by SKanyara
Hongo said they also do value addition by drying surplus to be sold later. The dried vegetables are sometime ground as the group has a posho mill. The ground vegetable can be used to make chapatis mandazis and other food.
The group is reducing post-harvest losses by using a solar drier and charcoal cooling unit for their fridge.
Initially they were losing a lot of money because produce was thrown away for lack of buyers.
Hongo said they then applied for and received a USAID grant.
They were given Sh1.5 million under the Kenya Crops and Dairy Market systems to build a solar drier structure, a charcoal cooling unit and two walking tractors.
The group members were also trained by USAID officials in technologies to increase production and improve their income.
They learnt how to preserve their vegetables through drying and cooling to increase their shelf life and maintain nutritional value.Post-harvest losses were greatly reduced.
Hongo said the vegetable venture has greatly improved livelihoods because women now can support their families.
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