Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) is piloting an inclusive seed demand strategy by leveraging champion farmers to reach the “last mile” in seed distribution.

In collaboration with the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) to develop and promote climate-resilient bean varieties, the champion farmers facilitate the distribution of seed to other farmers, assess specific seed varieties needed in their area and communicate this demand to seed companies and distributors.

Farmers are also involved in the aggregation process, where they bring in their harvests at one point to create larger volumes that are more attractive to buyers in order to facilitate the collection point, sorting, weighing and storage of beans.

Farmers from Naromoru, Kieni East, in Nyeri County have been involved in aggregating their high-yielding beans, which they have been producing in huge volumes thanks to the training by KALRO on the best variety to plant in the area.

Dr David Karanja, the National Coordinator, Grain Legume from KALRO, said the model includes negotiating favourable prices for the seeds and potentially bundling them with other services. He gave an example of the Nyota bean variety that was introduced in 2021 and which is a market-demanded variety that has seen most of the farmers increase their yields.

“They are known for their ability to produce 6-10 90-kilogrammes bags per acre, making them a popular choice for farmers. Nyota beans also mature early (60-70 days), are drought-tolerant and are relatively resistant to common bean diseases,” he said.

Dr Karanja said the success of the Nyota bean and its life-changing streak for the farmers has seen KALRO develop another new variety, the “Waithera” variety.

The bean is now the talk of the town in Kieni after the pilot and has demonstrated the potential for significantly increasing yields six-fold compared to the local varieties such as Wairimu and twice the production compared to the Nyota bean.

“From 1 kilogramme of Nyota beans, a farmer harvests 26 kilogrammes, while for the Waithera bean, a farmer will get twice that and harvest 55 kilogrammes,” Karanja said.

Karanja further explained the Waithera variety came to replace the local ‘Wairimu’ variety because it is a climate-smart bean with a high level of maturity, a higher yield, and adaptability to various growing conditions.

“The Waithera variety retains the desirable characteristics of the Wairimu bean but is specifically bred to produce less gas, offering a more comfortable consumption experience. The bean cooks fast, is sweet when cooked, has a low flatulent level and contains medium levels of zinc and iron,” he said.

Rebecca Waruguru, a farmer in Gatuanyaga who is among the few farmers who managed to plant the Waithera variety on her farm, says she was able to harvest over 20 kilogrammes from half a kilo of Waithera bean seed.

“I got one kilo of the Waithera variety from the agriculture officer in September last year. I was able to plant a half kilogramme from which I harvested 20 kilogrammes. I then went ahead and planted one and three-quarters kilogrammes and harvested over 100 kilogrammes,” she said.

Waruguru, who is from the ‘focus farmers group,’ said they even went ahead and cooked to compare the taste with the local Wairimu and found the taste was even better, as it had no gas.  Another farmer, Agnes Nyaguthii, who planted 4 kilogrammes and produced 150 kilogrammes of the Waithera bean, said she cannot wait to distribute it to her neighbours so that they can benefit and embrace the bean.

Karanja explained that the Naromoru area, where they have been piloting the Waithera bean variety, has very cold nights and also experiences drought occasionally and the bean, which has done well, will now further complement the Nyota bean that is equally doing well and was bred for improved nutritional value, specifically higher iron and zinc content, as well as increased yield and drought tolerance.

“We needed to introduce a bean variety that has the same quality for cooking but doesn’t have gas and that is how Waithera came about, and so we gave samples to farmers in this locality to be able to grow,” he said.

Karanja explained that although the productivity of Nyota and Waithera is huge, the plant structure of the two is different since Nyota is a type one bean, meaning it reaches maximum height and does not grow anymore, while Waithera is a type II bean that, if given more nutrients and water, can continue to produce until it reaches maximum, thus the higher yield.

He noted the biggest challenge with farmers is they tend to mix various varieties of seed and this, he explained, sees most of them not get yields as expected. ‘We are using the extension officers who are carrying out capacity building for the farmers and also demonstrations in order to produce quality.’

For Waithera, Karanja said that they have already done the first breeder seed, then going to basic seeds, and by October this year they will be buying from the farmers, and by next year there should be adequate seed of the Waithera variety that farmers across the Country will be able to access.

Apart from Kieni East, the Waithera variety, whose production takes around 70 to 90 days, is also doing well in some parts of Nakuru, Bomet and Elgeyo Marakwet.

“Bomet is ahead of most of the other counties because farmers embraced it and I want to encourage farmers to work in groups for maximum production and ensure farmers in their locality and neighbourhood grow it before selling far,” Karanja said.

Agnes Mwangi, an agriculture officer in Kieni sub-location, said most farmers in the area have been planting beans as an intercrop or a rotational crop and after the introduction of the Nyota bean and its performing well, most have embraced production.

“After the Nyota bean harvest, through the support of county which had distributed seeds to farmers for free, more farmers have come out sourcing for the Nyota bean seeds through KALRO,” she said.

Mwangi said about 4,000 families in Naromoru area have been growing the bean because there is a market.

“The farmers have access to buyers who do value addition. We have been training them on aggregation, where they bring their individual beans together under one roof for off loaders to come and buy in bulk,” she said

She added that farmers have also embraced the new Waithera variety being piloted, which has shown that it can yield even more than the Nyota and farmers cannot wait to get the bean seedlings for planting.

“The Waithera, bean is not very common in all farms; it is only with a few individual farmers but when we initially got it and planted, farmers were able to produce more and cannot wait to get even more seeds” Mwangi said

Bean farming in Kenya is a significant agricultural activity, ranking as the second most important food crop after maize, and the new, high-yielding, and nutritious bean varieties being produced by KALRO, especially the Nyota and Waithera beans, are transforming bean farming in Kenya, boosting both farmer incomes and household nutrition.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Wangari Ndirangu