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....
Tecno’s Camon 16 Premier beats competitors to lead smartphone industry
As smartphones are becoming increasingly integrated into our everyday lives, it is essential to choose one that fits your lifestyles and your needs. Every mobile phone brand is trying to stand out from the rest by upgrading their technology and introducing new functions; however, the best way to measure their...
Sugarcane farming no longer sweet
FEATURE Hundreds of farmers in Migori County who have been growing sugarcane since 1979 as a cash crop are having second thoughts. From being ‘green gold’ to a lazy man’s crop, sugarcane has now acquired the tag of a poor man’s crop, thanks to abysmal returns from a cash crop...
Small scale tea farmers to build $27 million hydro power plant
Plans are underway to build a $26.7 million (Ksh2.8 billion) power generation plant on Chemosit River in Kericho County to supply hydropower to four tea processing factories in Zone Eight of the larger Kericho tea complex.Kericho, approximately 300 kilometres west of the capital Nairobi is located in the expansive Rift...
