Mushroom farming is a money making venture
Steven Mulanda
Mushroom farming in Kenya is arguably one of the most profitable yet capital friendly type of farming. In the recent past, we at Hortfresh Journal have received numerous inquiries from farmers who want to engage in this Agri-business.
As the conventional belief goes; agriculture means an archaic lifestyle and a future with limited opportunities for youth, thus many young people in the developing world tend to shy away from farming. However, one young farmer who has beaten all the odds is Anne Kimathi, who after attending a one-year mushroom farming course at Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (JKUAT) in 2011, could not fathom mushrooms would alter the course of her life for the better. Today, she looks back at the strides she has made in life through mushroom cultivation with a smile on her face.
Anne, first heard about mushroom farming through an exchange program in their local church that was being sponsored by an NGO to help young people identify more opportunities in Agri-business. The idea of mushroom farming fascinated her after doing some soul searching and reasoning about the path she would like to follow to be self-reliant.
She got into business; Delight Mushrooms, where she farms, sells, and nowadays she trains farmers on growing this fungus.
“Most farmers usually have a structure and idea of what they want. For those starting from scratch, a minimum of Sh100, 000 is needed, “she says. Out of the Sh100, 000 about Sh60, 000 goes into buying spawns and substrate while the remainder goes to putting up a structure.
“Substrate is a finished product that is ready to be put in a mushroom structure, spawn sowed in and after that you await harvest”, Anne says, adding that mushrooms can be grown in any part of the country so long as one puts up the necessary structures.
Common mushroom growing structure are usually made from mud and roofed with thatch. This, she says is because wood or stone structures are more expensive to put up although they are the most ideal for growing mushrooms.
Currently, she grows Oyster and Buton varieties which she sells for KSH 800 and KSH1, 200 per kg respectively when harvested fresh. She avers that the Oyster and Buton varieties are the common variety in Kenya and their cycle to maturity is shorter; Oyster takes between 25 to 45 days for a farmer to begin harvesting.
As the demand of mushroom grew, she ventured into value addition. She processes mushroom into a product called Reishi Ganoderma; a herbal tea which she says is nutritional and is rich in antibiotic properties, anti-inflammatory characteristics, immune system stimulation, lowering cholesterol and being a good source of Vitamin D. “Mushrooms are highly recommended to people with diabetes and arthritis and they are great immune boosters. Reishi Ganoderma, a herbal tea is processed by drying mushrooms after which they are milled and packed into 50 grams cans retailing at Ksh 650,” she says.
She majorly sells her produce to hotels and restaurants in Nairobi as well as to clients, mostly who are referred by clients who have used her products.
According to Anne, mushroom is a money making venture as a bag of 5 kilogrames worth of spawns and substrate can reap 1,500 to 2,000 kilos worth of fresh produce on a weekly basis.
“The biggest challenge farmer’s face is identifying the right places to purchase their materials (spawns and substrate). Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and KARLO provide the best spawns in Kenya,” she said.
“I do offer consultation to would be mushroom farmers every Saturdays in Ngong, Kikuyu and Machakos at a fee of Sh 2,500 per person. Upon appraisal on the eligibility of a farmer, which is based on capital, land size, type and size of the structure and climatic conditions, I then advise the farmer on how to nurture a particular variety of mushrooms, “She opined. Her major target is to see increased levels of mushroom consumption among Kenyans which she says it’s quite low.
