Kenyan bank offers grain farmers fertilizer loans

Kenya's Equity Bank will give loans worth Sh1 billion ($16 million) to farmers growing maize and cereals, to help them buy fertiliser for the current planting season.

The price of the input has trebled recently due to global high oil prices.The credit will be offered in partnership with farm inputs supplier and fertiliser manufacturer, Mea Limited.

“We are offering credit as farmers seek better prices due to an expanded cereal market,” said the bank’s chief executive, Dr James Mwangi.

A stockist can borrow as much as they need. The loans will attract a 15 per cent interest rate charged on a reducing balance, he said. They will also come with a three-month grace period.
However, the service is only available to stockists recommended by Mea Limited.

Fertiliser use in Africa is still low, and companies are using innovation to increase its penetration in the country, that would in turn lead to higher yields.

“In Kenya, the current usage is 8 kilos per hectare while in the West it is about 100 kilos per hectare, which is a huge contrast,” said Mea director, Titus Gitau.

Companies have also been forced to reduce their packaging to offer farmers cheaper options. In the course of the month, the bank is also set to venture into warehouse trade financing. This is a facility under which farmers and traders can deposit their maize at a certified warehouse in the months of December to March and get a warehouse receipt.

They can the present the receipt at Equity Bank branches in return for cash, as they wait to sell their stored maize, when prices increase in the months of May to August.

After selling their maize, traders will repay the loans and storage costs, while retaining some margins, as opposed to selling during the harvest period, when prices are normally depressed.

The concept of grain financing using warehouse receipts is new in Kenya, and is pioneered by the Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC), under the Pilot Warehouse Receipt System project.

EAGC says it has negotiated for affordable storage and minimum financing costs with the participating partners, to enhance the grain value chain process. Millers and other organisations wishing to buy grain, such as food aid agencies, can buy the warehouse receipts, which guarantee the quality, quantity and location of the commodity.

This initiative is also supported by the Financial Sector Deepening Trust, United States Aid Development Agency, Kenya Maize Development Program, Regional Agricultural Trade Expansion Support and Lesiolo Grain Handlers Limited.

Daily Nation

Organic pest control : chewing pests off plants

by Josephat Juma

Fearing that their dream of a bumper harvest will be shattered by ravenous beetles and armyworms, local farmers in Makueni District of Eastern Kenya resorted to seeking intervention from herbalists and medicine men. The villagers believe that these are able to perform rituals that can kill the pests en-masse. One of the rituals dubbed "kuuma kiinyu," entails a toothless old man biting the worms. It has been performed in several divisions of the armyworm-infested district.

Christine, whose quarter acre of kale in Emali had been ravaged by the intruders, was distraught: "I have tried Agrinate, Dimethoate, Karate and Bestox (pesticides) but the worms keep on coming."

Quacks are having a field day. "I was wondering why the pesticide I was applying was not working. It turned out to be wheat flour which had been packaged as a pesticide," says angry farmer Mutiso.

Makueni District Agricultural Officer (DAO), John Kibe, confirmed that herbalists, medicine men and quacks were meddling with the conventional methods of killing the pests that invaded the district. He warned them to desist from cashing in on the farmers' misfortune and said that agricultural experts from Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) had been deployed in the affected areas to take samples of the pests in order to decide on the suitable pesticide to wipe them out. "The government has adequate pesticides to fight the pests," reassured Kibe.

For the farmers to turn to herbalists and medicine men, something must be wrong along the line. Kaloki, a farmer in Emali says that the last time he saw an agricultural extension officer was three years ago. Kaloki says that they have resorted to visiting only well-to-do families who give them tips and fuel their motorcycles. The extension officers don't deny this, blaming it on lack of fuel to power their motorcycles and the poor roads.

Most agro-based products are stocked in major town centers that are far away from the reach of most villagers. The few who are able to access them complain that they have not been packaged in manageable units to fit their low income levels.

The fact that extension officers only visit places that offer incentives should be an eye-opener. There is need to privatize and commercialize farm extension services. This will ensure that extension officers traverse remote regions, driven by profit. Competition among the extension officers will lead to value addition on their part and ensure that they give time to their clients. Agro product manufactures should consider adding an extension department in their companies which will not just target major towns, but rural regions as well. They should also consider repackaging their products in manageable units for purchase by farmers.

Instead of dismissing herbalists and medicine men in the fight against pests, training programs should target them because they form an important component in the fight against pests. This will convert them into extension officers as well.

Many NGOs have camped in Ukambani. Some, with full knowledge of agrochemicals that can wipe off pests, have steered clear of the issues as a result of controversies surrounding pesticide use, orchestrated by eco-imperialists that would like to see the earth remain "virgin," such as Pesticide Action Network (PAN). A key solution to food insecurity for the rural poor is to make available to farmers a "menu of technologies" from which they can choose : chemical fertilisers, pesticides, hybrid or other high-yielding seeds, as well as genetically engineered seeds. Investment needs to focus not only on technologies, but also on partnerships in research, training and education.

If a farmer condescends to biting worms to ward off the pest (call it organic method), shall he refuse to give in to chemicals that have led to food sufficiency in other parts of the world?

African Executive

Innovative South African venture feeds demand for natural textiles

The woeful state of SA’s clothing and textiles industry has spurred some innovative ideas to boost exports. IN A bid to diversify its operations, Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed clothing and textile operation Seardel has turned its eye to a green alternative. As concerns about climate change increase the demand for more sustainable alternatives to oil, there is a burgeoning market for environmentally friendly textiles, especially in Europe.

Seardel has set up a company, Sustainable Fibre Solutions (SFS), to explore the cultivation and processing of natural fibres and their by-products. The crop of choice is an ancient African plant, kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus), that is drawing attention internationally for its vast potential in an array of applications.

An alternative source to trees in the production of pulp for paper, kenaf is also preferable as a high-yielding and annually renewable source. But kenaf’s application potential reaches way beyond the production of a green alternative to paper and pulp. The plant is also an alternative to synthetic fibre in the production of thermal and sound insulation, automotive components, bio-composite and compressed non-woven materials.

Kenaf has been successfully cultivated in the US and parts of Asia for years. However, while it originated in Africa, modern cultivation of the plant is new to southern Africa. SFS is the first company to successfully cultivate kenaf in SA. After extensive research and field trials had proven the commercial viability of kenaf, the company identified Winterton in the KwaZulu- Natal Midlands as the ideal area to grow the crop on a commercial scale. In a R100m joint venture with the Industrial Development Corporation, SFS has now set up operations in the area, where it has also built a processing plant.

Commercial farmers have already successfully produced four crops (14,000 tonnes) and the facility will start commercially processing four tonnes of kenaf stalk an hour in the first quarter of 2007.

SFS envisages two phases of the project. During the first it will utilise 1700ha to cultivate 25500 tonnes of stalk, yielding 6375 tonnes of kenaf fibre a year. During a second phase of the project production will be scaled up to 9560 tonnes of bast fibre a year, using 2550 ha of farm land. The product will mainly be supplied to the export market, with 70% of product leaving local shores, but in scaling up production SFS hopes to also supply more product into the domestic market.

The kenaf stalk consists of an outer bast fibre and an inner core fibre. The bast makes up 25% of the dry weight of the processed stalk and the core 65%, with the rest constituting dust and short fibres. The bast fibre can be used in the manufacture of automotive composites and automotive trim components. The core fibre also has vast application potential. Because of its physical structure the fibre can absorb up to four times its weight, almost double the absorption capacity of wood chips and shavings. This makes it ideal for the absorption, drainage and neutralisation of liquids, sewage and chemical and oil spills. Other applications include paper, particle board for the building industry, animal bedding, packing material and engineered lumber.

With European environmental legislation seeking to advance the recyclability of vehicle components, automotive natural fibre composites have slowly been phased in, now accounting for a growing percentage of interior components. This is the market SFS has set its sights on. “There is an increasing trend in the motor and building industry to steer away from plastics, and this is a potential market we can tap into,” says SFS MD Kim Capstick-Dale.

He admits it is challenging to introduce a new raw material where established supply chains and recipes are in place to accommodate existing raw materials, but he is confident about prospects. “We are the first to put our toes in the water but our research and investment have been extensive and we are excited about the macro potential of this new project.”

Business Day