Onion Doctor; leveraging on onion value chain from seed to harvest

There are very few young people you meet and they inspire you so much. One such person is Lucy Wangari Wanjiku popularly referred to as Onion Doctor in the farming circles. She is a passionate agri-preneur, agribusiness consultant, and a nano-influencer in the digital agribusiness space.

Lucy is the founder and lead consultant of Onion Doctor an agricultural enterprise committed to the transformation of Arid and Semi-Arid regions of Africa into thriving, profitable, and sustainable food hubs with the onion and garlic value chains as the business model. Our approach involves providing drought-resistant seedlings, along with comprehensive agronomic support, climate-smart irrigation systems, route to market, and training to smallholder farmers in the Arid and Semi-Arid regions of Kenya and beyond.
The story of Lucy Wangari Wanjiku began while undertaking her agronomy studies and after university, she secured employment as a farm manager. The Farm where she was employed majorly dealt with onion farming and this enabled her learn the ropes of trade while perfecting her farming craft. With time she set up her own company to complement her income. She is farming in Ereteti Village, Kajiado County where she has transformed the scenic plains of Maasai grassland into a profitable and sustainable farmland. She welcomes all not only for farming but also for a perfect farm tour; learning experience and a place to rest and enjoy the peaceful rural ambiance.

“After I quit employment, you could find me consulting for so many farms be it avocado farm, tomato farm, potato farm among others. A friend of mine advised to pick one crop for me to specialize in for me to stand out. It’s at this point that I came to a realization I was good in onion farming. While still employed, onion was the only crop which at the end of the year would give us good returns. Moreover, onion is an everyday crop because we have people eating onions on a daily basis and as long as God gives us life we will in business,” onion doctor opined.

Though Onion Doctor does not do mono-cropping because of pests and disease build up. She crop rotates with cabbages but onions still remain her bread and butter. Onions are highly nutritious vegetables that may have several benefits, including improved heart health, better blood sugar regulation, and increased bone density.Onions are members of the Allium genus of flowering plants, which also includes garlic, shallots, and leeks.They’re delicious, versatile, and relatively cheap, and they boast a wide range of healthy vitamins, minerals, and plant compounds.

The production of onions at Onion Doctor is synonymous with quality, consistency and persistence. Each process is carefully observed from the farm to the market. “Since we began cultivation, our primary focus has been quality we do not beat around the bush over it. We are domiciled in Kajiado and we are on a mission of transforming arid and semi-arid regions into sustainable agricultural hubs with onion and garlic value chains as our business model. We are endeavoring to make every bulb count,” she explained.
With farming of this high value crops requiring specialized training, the farm has tapped into the services of local workforce whom they have been able to train on agricultural management. They have been pivotal in transferring the knowledge to local workforce. The workforce has undergone theoretical and practical training on farming of onions and garlic including planting, bed maintenance, weeding, irrigation, harvesting and packaging.

Onion Doctor has worked on maintaining the highest levels of good agricultural practices, environmental sustainability by judicious use of water, cutting of gallows to mitigate against soil erosion and in social economic development through training its 5 laborers on sustainable farming practices.

At Onion Doctor they aim at a sustainable way of farming, using less chemicals and pesticides or synthetic fertilizers; strictly being organic. With increase in lifestyle diseases, most people are concerned on what types of food they eat, thanks to the media and internet where many reports highlights to the masses, where the food is grown and how its grown and how safe it is. People have also embraced nutritionists advises on food consumption

For the last three years since she engaged herself with growing onions, she states to have learned a lot, including being in a state of awareness and overcoming many pitfalls that have come her way.
“One of the philosophies that drives Onion Doctor is intensity beats extensity all the time. We are intense and we are specialized and with the specialization we are able to see gaps and this makes us to do lots of improvements. The second philosophy is Kaizen which means constant act of self-improvement so the value proposition we have we are constantly improving it,” she said.

Currently, there is a shortage of onions in the market and according Wangari, Most Kenyan Onion farmers tend to avoid farming onions at this time of the year because market glut from Tanzania and unfortunately this year the glut didn’t occur.

For those people who envision themselves being farmers one day, she has an advice. Farming is interesting though it needs a lot of hard work and being persistent and being involved all the times. Inspired by market trends and customers’ feedback, the company’s management say it is open to expand but is currently more focused on growing top grade onions while cultivating its relationship with its customers.