From the Maria Theresa Thaler, to the rupee, to the Kenya shilling
Early use of currency in Kenya commenced with the Arab influence who were among the first to use currency as we know it. In Muscat, they used a silver coin called the Maria Theresa Thaler (MT$), first minted in Austria in 1741 and, not surprisingly, they continued using it when...
Blast from the past: The evolution of the Kenyan currency
Two years after the unveiling new currency in December by the Central Bank of Kenya’s, the country seems to have put behind it the appearance of the money that characteristically bore portraits of heads of government and state.The present currency coins and notes unveiled on December 10, 2018 bear wildlife...
$170,000 banana, potato factory puts money in pockets of Kakamega youths
With Ksh17 million ($170,000) World Bank and national government funding, youths in a remote village in western Kenya are going about their lives with a spring in their legs. Reason? They are now reaping the benefits of a value addition factory in Khwisero subcounty in Kakamega County that is now...
Market oriented horticultural smallholder farmers hit it big
Potato farming, among other horticultural crops, is the mainstay for farmers at Mwendi Kurima Cooperative Society in Engineer Town, Nyandarua County. Initially started as a self-help group by 13 farmers, Mwendi Kurima Group, whose membership currently stands at 350, it has weathered many storms over the years to become one...
Fishermen want Kenya, Uganda to resolve marine resources dispute
Fishermen in western Kenya county of Migori have petitioned Kenya and Uganda to agree on how to settle a protracted marine resources dispute over fishing boundaries. Lake Victoria, the second largest freshwater lake in the world is a source of livelihood for more than 10 million people in Kenya, Tanzania,...
How geothermal energy powers farming in the heart of Rift Valley
Erratic weather and a burgeoning population that requires food employment is an ever-ticking time bomb. Nakuru, once synonymous with commercial agriculture and industrialisation in Kenya has over the years slipped down the rung, now needs rejigging to breathe new life into the once cleanest town in East Africa. Endowed with...
British beef exports to US resume after over 20 years
British beef is back on US menus for the first time in more than 20 years as exports restart this week, the British Broadcasting Corporation reports. The beef was banned after the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) outbreak in 1996 when cattle were infected by what became commonly known as Mad...
Climate change threatens coffee production in Africa
Coffee farmer, Francois Dadi Serikpa from Gnamagnoa in Côte d’Ivoire, joined Nestlé’s Nescafé Plan 10 years ago. The coffee farms that had been in his family for generations were producing poor yields, making it hard for him to earn a good living to care for his family. Under the plan,...
Ambitious Abu Dhabi to build world’s largest indoor farm
GreenFactory Emirates, a United Arab Emirates firm, plans to produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce per year and combine vertical and flat farming techniques in a project billed to be the largest indoor farm. The AED650 million ($176,930,000) project will develop an innovative indoor farming with the world’s most advanced...
Transformation index finds most of 15 largest tobacco companies don’t advance harm reduction
The first Tobacco Transformation Index (www.TobaccoTransformationIndex.org), released this week and made possible with funding from the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, finds that most of the 15 largest tobacco companies are not making substantive progress in phasing out cigarettes and other high-risk tobacco products and transitioning smokers to reduced-risk alternatives....
