Do you have quater an acre? You can farm & sell LimaKwaKaQuota

For many years, many people have shied away from farming as a myth has been propelled around that one need big acreages to be considered a successful agri-preneur. It is on this myth that Hort Live Agri-ventures, a farming company under the Africa Farmers Club has rolled out the Lima Kwa KaQuota initiative; to dispel this myth and to encourage more people especially the young people into farming. Noah Nasiali, the initiator of the program, elucidates that projections reveals that the next billionaires and millionaires will definitely emanate from the agricultural industry.

Noah noted that our education system needs to be altered to incorporate more agricultural lessons. Also heads of education institutions need to change the attitude of employing digging as cruel punishment to students who at the end go on not liking farming and yet farming is a career like any other.

In Kenya, subdivision of land and the high birth rate has led to decrease of available big chunks of farming land. More attention need to be given to small pieces of land since they have a huge potential since each household in the country requires 3 meals per day. Kenyan farmers need to be more innovative to tap on this potential to succeed, as agriculture is a science which needs skills and knowledge to reap the benefits.

For instance, beginning with a soil test on your land, employing drip lines, applying correct fertilizers and contracting an agronomist is good idea a farmer on small patch of land need to start with.

According to Ezra Muinde a member of Africa Farmers Club and a farmer, a quarter piece of land can hold 2,500 plants of tomatoes, 60,000 seedlings of onions, 3,000 heads of cabbages as well as 2,500 plants of capsicum provided a farmer has a good supply of water for farming. “Farmers in the country are mostly practicing subsistence farming which has no economic impact. They only need to move from this archaic type of farming and embrace commercial farming which is viable,” he said.

“I usually tell farmers that you don’t need to have 1,000 acres or more to make money from farming. It is all about how you manage the little you have. I would not be making much from this piece of land if I did not embrace modern farming.

Every inch of land is viable and should be used to grow revenue. The trick lies on choosing the right crops to plant, following production guidelines and perhaps, the largest piece of the puzzle is marketing. Most farmers decry that market is not available, but with modern farming it is all hallmarked.

For instance, two drip lines are enough to pay your worker within two weeks if you have planted spinach or kales on a quarter an acre of land which you sell at the farm gate. Farming is extremely amazing, feeding people and knowing it changes a person life is really motivating,” Ezra explained.

As most farmers decry lack of market and exploitation by middlemen for their produce, Hort Live Agri-ventures says pricing of the commodities is a challenge as most farmers have no guidance on the cost of production per square meter. “If a farmer can reduce his/her cost of production to an example of 19/= per unit area and sell for 40 or 50/= a kilo, then the issue of lack of market wont arise,” Nasiali stated.

Furthermore, farmers need to conduct a thorough market survey and have scouts in their locality and other areas to be abreast with the demand of crops that have high demand. For instance cabbages sell more when indigenous vegetables are not in the market and they are more sold in hospitals and learning institutions.