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Agriculture

2000 Ukia Farmers Adopt Hass Avocado as their New Green Gold.

Over 2000 farmers drawn from Ukia ward in Kaiti Sub-County are beneficiaries of graft avocado scions  (Hass variety), courtesy of the Department of Agriculture, Irrigation, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperative Development, Makueni County.
The initiative, a product of public participation, is geared towards supporting the farmers to increase productivity and profitability in the avocado value chain. The program also aims to enhance market access and business linkages to the farmers.
The Hass avocado is a new variety that has been scientifically modified through grafting to significantly reduce its maturity period to between 2.5 years and 3 years from the typical period of 6 to 7 years.
According to Agriculture Chief Officer Daniel Ndolo, Hass Avocado is the new goldmine for modern farmers and urged farmers to plant more avocadoes.
 
This is because Hass-avocado does not require much labor and time to maintain. In addition, the demand for avocados is extremely high and can’t satisfy the current local demand and in the European countries.
 
Ndolo spoke on Tuesday at Kilala Chief’s Office where he launched the scions distribution exercise and handed over the scions to 15 grafters, who have been trained and will offer the grafting services to the earmarked farmers.
The County has so far distributed close to 60,000 improved Hass variety seedlings to farmers in the avocado growing areas and is at the forefront to transform the avocado value chain into a robust economic enterprise to impact positively on the livelihoods of the community.

Makueni County Feted for Stellar Performance in the implementation of NARIGP

Makueni County has been feted by the World Bank for commendable performance in the implementation of the National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Growth Project (NARIGP).
 
The County emerged position three for the period between 2019 and 2023 for satisfactorily implementing NARIGP in the 20 selected wards in Makueni.Trans-Nzoia and Nakuru Counties took the first and the second positions respectively.
NARIGP is a 5-year Government of Kenya project that is implemented through the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Fisheries and Irrigation with funding support from the World Bank.
 
The project’s goal is to increase agricultural productivity and profitability of targeted rural communities in selected Counties, and in the event of an Eligible Crisis or Emergency, to provide immediate and effective response.
 
According to the World Bank, Makueni County had funded more than 600 micro-projects across the four value chains namely mangoes, green grams, poultry and tomatoes.
 
In addition, the county had trained over 10,000 farmers on agriculture best practices and had adopted new technologies for increasing productivity. These were some of the county performance indicators used by the World Bank to rank the counties
According to the County Project Coordinator Paul Musyimi who received the award on behalf of the County on 7th of June 2023 in Mombasa, “We have supported over 700 groups and 24,000 farmers in Makueni to start micro-projects in tomatoes, poultry, green grams and mangoes.”
 
Musyimi also revealed that they had spent over Sh 700 Million since the inception of the project in 2017, to empower local farmers with the aim of increasing agricultural productivity and profitability.
 
Apart from funding and capacity-building farmers, a key premise of the National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Growth Project (NARIGP) is the importance of linking farmers or Common Interest Groups (CIGs) and Vulnerable and Marginalized Groups (VMGs) organized along priority Value Chains to markets.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Towards Livestock Feed Commercialization in Makueni.

Over 500 dairy farmers of Kitise Farmers Cooperative Society, who are also into large-scale production of hay have received a 4- wheel driven tractor that will boost pasture mechanized farm operations.
 
Previously, the farmers have been hiring tractor services at high cost rates to complement their existing farm equipment for production.
 
The donation is part of the livestock feed commercialization project which is being funded by the Mastercard Foundation and implemented by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) through Business Initiatives for Survival and Eradication of Poverty (BISEP) in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Irrigation, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperative Development in Makueni.
 
According to Agriculture Executive Joyce Mutua, the program aims at increasing the feed resource base in Makueni through provision of farm equipment, distribution of pasture seeds and linkages to market. So far, close to 3000 farmers have benefitted from the initiative which is at the pilot phase.
 
Mutua spoke during the handing over of equipment ceremony on Monday at the Maps Office, and was flanked by officials from FAO and Agriculture and Livestock Chief officers Daniel Ndolo and Dr. Victoria Kyalo respectively.
 
Other farmer groups also benefited from the equipment donation.

National Mango Conference rekindles farmers’ hopes .

The three-day national mango conference came to an end on Thursday with thousands of farmers hoping to reap big from their mango farms and have their products be part of consignments to EU countries.
Today the delegates had a field visit to various mango farms, value-addition firms, and a tour of the Kalamba Fruit Processing Plant.
The climax of the conference was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Makueni Governor, H.E. Mutula Kilonzo Jr, and Cornelly Serem, Chairman, of the Agriculture, and Food Authority Board, for a stronger Kenyan mango industry and better markets.
 

 

Walking the Journey with Makueni Emerging Entrepreneurs at Makueni PWD Vocational and Training Center

The Kenya Small Business Development Centers (KSBDC) in partnership with Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme II (ASDSP II) is currently spearheading a sensitization Workshop for Makueni Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises on the existence of Kenya Small Business Development Centers (KSBDC) and services offered in the centers, with an aim of supporting, coaching and mentorship for sustained business growth.
 
KSBDC is a pilot program implemented by Strathmore University Business School (SBS) in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with a vision of transferring best practices in business development and advisory services through training, consulting and policy research and market intelligence.
 
Makueni SBDC is located at the Makueni People with Disability Vocational Training Center Offices Off Wote Malivani road and is open for free services to emerging entrepreneurs. 
 
For more information kindly contact 0724679289 or send an email to lwambua@strathmore.edu
 

The First-Ever National Mango Conference and Exhibition in Kenya.

Makueni County, the leader in mango production with a margin of 19%, Lamu (13.9%), Kilifi (7.9%), and Meru (7.7) will be hosting the first-ever National Mango Conference and Exhibition in Kenya next week from May 16-18, 2023 themed “Winning Markets for Kenyan Mangoes”.
H.E Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr :“The initiative is of very great benefit to the farmers of Makueni, who for a long period have been facing unfavorable markets for their produce. The farmers will also get the opportunity to be educated on farming and use of chemicals that are recommended for international markets,”