This archive report was first published on 16 November 2019.
On a farm in Gankere sub-location, Imenti North, Meru County, a group of youths has started an innovative business shredding animal fodder for dairy farmers.
The youths, under the name Dairy Ventures Self Help Group, use a shredder to slice maize plants into pieces, helping farmers prepare fodder for their animals.
According to Stanley Muriithi, the group's secretary, their machine shreds both the pod and grains, unlike a chaff cutter that only chops.
The group was formed soon after being trained by the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) on dairy management, and they saw a business opportunity in providing services to dairy farmers.
With the help of SNV, the group was able to purchase the fodder shredder at Sh340,000, and they now move from village to village or county to county shredding fodder for farmers.
The machine shreds three tonnes per hour, and the group charges farmers Sh2,000 per hour, with any member involved being paid Sh1,000 a day.
Patrick Muriiki, the chairman of the group, notes that one of the advantages of their shredder is that it is movable, allowing them to take it to the maize plantation and shred directly into a lorry or in a silage pit, reducing costs.
The group has also leased a two-acre piece of land where they grow maize for ensiling, and each member of the group owns on average 0.5 acres where they grow maize, shred and sell it.
With the services, they are assured of a stable source of income all-year-round, and in future, they plan to purchase a dairy cow for each of their members.
Phillip Oketch, a dairy expert in Tharaka Nithi County with SNV, notes that the shredder is able to slice mature fodder, especially maize, that has gone beyond the dough stage, unlike a chaff cutter that only chops it into wheels.
According to Oketch, the machine comes with different sieves that include grain without fodder, cobs and fine fodder, giving the farmer power to regulate the chopping sizes.
