This archive report was first published on 9 November 2019.
On a 10-acre farm in Chaka, Nyeri County, Daniel Wachira has been cultivating a variety of organic produce for the past decade. His farm, which hosts a mix of vegetables, fruits, and livestock, is a testament to the success of organic farming and direct sales.
Wachira's farm is neatly divided into different sections, each dedicated to a specific crop or animal. The pawpaw trees are laden with heavy fruits, while the vegetables are grown in between the pawpaw plants, spaced three meters apart.
Wachira, who has been a horticulture farmer for 10 years, grows a range of crops organically, including capsicum, carrots, coriander, Chinese cabbages, sukuma wiki, spinach, passion fruit, pawpaw, lettuce, spring onions, tree tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and traditional vegetables. He also keeps bees and uses rabbit urine and manure, crop waste, and dung from cow, goats, and chickens to fertilize his crops.
He has developed a unique method of composting manure, which he applies to his crops to promote healthy growth. Wachira also uses natural pest repellents, such as Mexican marigold weed, to ward off insect pests like aphids.
He makes his own organic pesticides from a mixture of pepper, garlic, pyrethrum, and aloe vera, which he uses to fight common pests like cutworms and aphids. Wachira also uses tithonia and lantana camara to make foliar fertiliser and pesticide.
Wachira's farm shop, Fazenda Organico, in Nyeri Town, is a hub of activity, where he sells his produce directly to residents and supplies to markets in the town and in Nairobi. He has managed to eliminate brokers by controlling prices based on demand and supply, and buyers know where to get organic produce.
Wachira sells his produce at competitive prices, with a kilo of vegetables like spinach selling at Sh20 per bunch. He pasteurises his milk and sells it at Sh50 a litre, while rabbit meat is sold at Sh700 per kilo of meat, and eggs at Sh15 each.
Wachira's advice to aspiring farmers is to conduct thorough research and be honest about their products. He notes that incorporating integrated pest and disease management, and safely using chemicals, is essential in best farming practice.
Robert Thuo, an agriculture specialist in Nyeri, agrees that cultural methods like spraying pepper or using ash to protect crops from pests work well, but should be backed by pesticides. He also recommends planting Sodom apple on the periphery of the farm to trap pests that attack crops, and using Napier grass or desmodium to protect maize.
