Interview With The Largest Strawberry Farmer In Naivasha

Davis Munene took a gamble from his well paying applications developer job to venture into strawberry farming. The co-founder of Valley Green Farm Limited has not looked back, four years down the line. In fact, he is expanding the business and diversifying it. He shares his journey with Dhahabu Kenya.

What was the idea behind starting farming and when did you start?

Our farming business is for posterity, we are building this business in order to secure the futures of our families and also be able to raise entrepreneurs in our children unlike the employee education we have in our schools.

At the onset of the business, this was purely an avenue to get into real estate business after profits came in but it has become the sole business that we will be focusing until we get a breakthrough in the East and Central Africa.

I started farming as an enterprise in 2012.

Where do you farm and what amount of capital did you invest?

We farm in Naivasha at a place called Karati. It boarders Kinangop and Naivasha town.

We raised 400,000/- as partners on the onset but we have progressively pumped in extra to run the farm, we are currently doing farm expansion into 5 acres of strawberry land and we are raising around sh5,000,000 for the same.

Was there a specific reason that made you decide on the strawberry farming? What research did you do to assist you make a decision.

Many reasons led to us focusing on strawberries. It’s a healthy fruit and it ranks 50 on the best antioxidant sources, 27^th best food in the United States of America and the 4^th best among all fruits (behind blackberries, cranberries, and raspberries).

In leading producers of strawberries, they earn amazing profits compared to many fruits, its prices are stable in the market (there is minimal price fluctuations) and it’s a fruit that can be processed into many by-products such as jams, jellies, flavor, syrups etc.

We focused our research on global market trends (esp on healthy products) and narrowed down on the opportunities in Kenya and East Africa to explore the growth, manufacturing and distribution of strawberry products. We visited many small holders farmers in Kenya and compared production methods with other countries, this led us to focus on day-neutral strawberry varieties planted using plasti-culture system.

How difficult or easy is it to farm away from where you live?

It’s fairly demanding to run a strawberry farm but from my experience not impossible to be in the farm every day as I commute from Nairobi. When the job in the farm is demanding, I spend my nights in Naivasha.

How much do you make on average as profits in a month? How much revenue do you also make a month? What are your recurrent costs and how are they incurred?

The portion we have right now is ½ acre of land with approximately 6000 strawberry plants. We have managed to break-even and with the expansion this year we expect to get into a big positive.

The fruit has 4 months of production cycle and every cycle we get 400g per plant.

50 percent of the harvest is grade 1, which are sold in punnets of 250g at sh150 each.

40 percent are grade 2 which are used in making jams.

10 percent are rejects.

Subsequent harvest cycles lead to good profits.

Our recurrent costs are on wages, fertilizers, land rent, packaging materials. Over time we have managed to bring down the total production costs to 40 percent of our total revenues.

Please comment on doing business with individuals vis-a-vis institutions? Do you have a preference? Which one and why?

Valley Green Farm Limited does business with both individuals mostly from the baking club of Kenya as well as institutions that include groceries, hotels & resorts, supermarkets and dairy creameries.

Institutions buy in bulk and can service a large order unlike individuals. But the individuals pay way better than the institutions.

The aspect of credit purchase and cash sales also plays a big role in balancing who we sell to at a particular harvesting day.

What challenges do you face in your business?

There are many but there is no business that does not have challenges. What I have learnt is how to manage them.

It ranges from agronomy challenges; diseases, flower abortions, delayed or stagnant growths, pests (which love the strawberries). We have an agronomist whom we have partnered with to help us mitigate these challenges.

Human resource is another challenge. Labor fees and wages in Naivasha are high and volatile human capital at times leaves you alone in the farm! We have managed to spread the risk by employing workers who buy the vision of the company but too earn more as we harvest more quality fruits. The more they work towards a good quality and high quantity yield the more they earn too.

Cash flow balance. In the beginning I sold all fruits to one store that would pay after 3 months. Imagine running the business without any cash in between that period! So we have  managed to get more cash buyers, negotiated for shorter credit periods and re-channeled earn revenue back to the running of the farm.

Regulation; from city council to Kenya Bureau of Statistics (KEBS), there are so many bottlenecks in the system. Delayed delivery and harassment at times! Being friends with them does the magic in this case.

Do you do any value addition or processing? How is it facilitating your bottom-line?

We use 40 percent of the harvest (2^nd grades) to make high fruit content and reduced sugar jams and ice cream toppings. Revenues are way better than that of selling fresh fruits. We have recently gotten permits to produce from KEBS so we are good to go with the production, marketing and distribution of our jams and ice cream toppings around East Africa

Are there some regulatory requirements that you need in order to better trade? Say things like licenses..

Selling fresh fruits has minimal regulation if you do not have a brick and mortar stall to sell. Other than permits with city council to hawk the fruits (;), its as good as no regulation.

For the jams and ice cream toppings we have had to adhere to KEBS standards act (CAP 496 of the law of Kenya) we had to meet KS 05-139 Kenya Standards Specifications for jams, jellies and marmalades.

How is the market like for strawberries in Nairobi and Kenya in general?

There is a growing concern by the middle and high level civilians in Kenya and therefore strawberries are becoming marketable. We have taken time to educate the buyers on the benefits of strawberries and our jams. So we believe it is a growing market with great potential.

Most buyers are from pastry shops and health conscious individuals.

We also invite our customers to the farm to pick their own fruits. Slowly its growing into a viable market.

Any other comment!

Strawberry farming guide for kenyan

It has taken us time and persistence to stay in the game. We have failed and picked up again and we believe good tidings are on the way. I thank my wife who is also my business partner and producer of the jams & ice cream toppings, my three other business partners and God.

To achieve a good harvest, and the widely sought-after deep-red colour, one has to have information on the right way of planting and taking care of strawberry plants. Even if you are going to have other people working on your farm, you must have the basic knowledge on propagation and maintenance. 

Here is a complete guide that you can use to grow strawberries successfully. You can now request for it from our Resources Page. 

Income From Passion Fruit Farming Cannot Compare To My Salary As A Banker

From a far, the beautiful passion fruit farm looks like a big flower garden neatly divided into sections with each plant in its proper place.

Most of the motorists on the busy Baricho–Kerugoya Road slow down or even stop by to admire the beauty of this farm. It is an outstanding display of the passion in farming of one young man George Kuria, 27, an International Business Administration graduate from the United States International University.

George Kuria in his passion fruit farm: Kirinyaga, Kenya

Kuria quit a high-income job at Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) in 2013 after working for less than a year to venture into agribusiness. His main activity is passion fruit farming, but has an eye for other money making fruits as you will see. 

However, nothing has come easy or as he expected, but as Kuria recounts his story on his farm at Mombasa Ndogo in Mukinduri, Kirinyaga County, you will see the point in his optimism that “money is in the soil” - or what we say in our slogan, "Udongo ni Mali."

By 2015, two years after quitting the banking job, he was making some very good money from his agribusiness, ranging between Sh2,000 and Sh3,000 per day and going up to Sh4,000 on good days.

His two-acre farm curved out of his family’s 12 acres has three main fruits – pawpaws, tree tomatoes and passion fruits. Passion fruit occupies the biggest portion, earning him the highest income and is harvested regularly besides having the longest profitable life.

“Today I sit in the farm and get calls from buyers,” he says, adding: “All I need to do is confirm that the fruits are available then I prepare the package for each of the buyers for collection after they have paid on mobile money.”

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“Before I started this venture, I had learnt a lot about fruit farming during my regular visits to the local farms and the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro) in Embu.”

Kuria started his crop farming venture with capsicum and watermelons, but he later switched to fruits. He planted 100 tree tomatoes, 100 pawpaws and 100 passion plants.

In 6 months, the grafted passion fruits started to bring him a harvest of Sh500 daily. With each harvest, the yield went higher and so more money started flowing in. Seeing this, he increased the plants to 300 and now the fruit occupies the biggest portion of the two acres.

He sells forty kgs of passion fruits making a total sales reaching Sh3,000 daily. This season has been particularly kind to his efforts as his income has gone up to Sh4,000 daily where it has stabilised since October last year.

Kuria is now a well-known farmer and one of the largest passion fruit grower in Mukinduri ward inhabited by over 20,000 residents. Living in an area where residents shun fruit farming, his is a huge eye opener in the area, supplying daily to about 20 retail traders based at the main Kerugoya open air market.

Kuria also supplies pawpaws worth over Sh75,000 every two months and tree tomatoes worth Sh15,000 every month.

All the three fruits are long-term crops and require “intensive work of regular pruning, monitoring and spraying while passion in particular requires large capital of posts and wires and labour, which puts off many farmers,” he says.

Passion fruits, which remains productive for up to six years are “heavy feeders”, according to Kuria, which means one must always have animal and compost manure. To get quality manure, an animal needs to be fed with good pasture and the manure must also be stored and handled properly to reduce loss of nutrients.

This is a tall order for many farmers used to traditional methods especially in areas where the old control land use, says Alex Njenga, a Ministry of Agriculture agronomist in Kiambu.

To become successful in fruit farming, information is the most important asset. If you need help in setting up your fruit farming business, do not hesitate to call us on 0724698357. 

Pawpaw farming and Value Addition: How To Make Yummy Pawpaw Jam For Use At Home And For Sale

As pawpaw farming picks pace in many parts of Kenya the fruit is becoming a little more affordable and available in our markets. Many consumers of this fruit take it raw and very few people know that you can make yummy products from the fruits such as jam and enjoy the health benefits of the crop in sweeter ways.

Though some processed products such as dried papaya and canned papaya are exported from Kenya, as a country we haven’t processed all papaya products. This is a gap in the market, bearing in mind that pawpaws grow throughout the year, which means a consistent supply of raw materials. 

Pawpaw farming and processing in Kenya

Of course most people prefer eating fresh juicy papayas in salads. Fresh pawpaw (papaya) is high in Potassium, Vitamin A and C. However, you can enjoy the sweetest products of the orange fruit such as wine, juice and jam and still have the benefit of these minerals. For today, let us look into the processing of pawpaw for jam production.

Pawpaw jam

Eating the same old red jam in bread every morning can be boring. The good thing is that you do not have to do that. You can now enjoy yummy and highly nutritious pawpaw jam.

It is simple to make and you can even sell the products and make sweeter profits. We will show you how. If you follow these steps, you can even establish a business venture in pawpaw jam processing?

Ingredients

You will need to have the following ready.

•         Ripe pawpaw fruits
•        White sugar (which you can replace with honey)
•       Citric acid

Procedure

• Choose the ripest fruits.
• Clean and rinse the fruits thoroughly to remove foreign materials that may cause contamination of the final product. Good hygienic and sanitation practices are fundamental to a successful food industry and this is one of the things KEBS will look into if you want to go commercial. Wear the correct attire: a headgear, apron, and gumboots; precisely clean and white. Maintain high hygiene throughout the process.
• Cut the fruits in halves using a clean knife, remove the seeds and peel.
• Pulp the fruits by mashing or using a blender.
• Put the pawpaw pulp in a clean heating vessel; do not add anything in the vessel.
• Heat the pulp while stirring using a wooden ladle to about 750C; stirring helps to prevent the pulp from sticking on the cooking vessel you are using. Continuous stirring is recommended for good colour.
• Add sugar in the ratio of 1:1 (sugar: pulp) and citric acid (2% of total pulp) and continue heating until you attain a temperature of 105°C.

Note: To test whether the jam is ready, put some of the ready jam on a dry container. Allow it to cool and tilt the plate. If the jam is ready, it will fall in flakes.

• Cool the jam to 68°C and fill it into clean and sterile jars.
• Turn jars upside down for a while after capping (this is for neck bottle sterilization).
• Invert the jars to normal position and knock down a little (knocking down allows the air bubble to move to the upper side of the bottle and not get trapped as this can interfere with the setting of the jam).
• Cool and allow the jam to settle.
• Label the bottle with an attractive package.
• For quality assurance and assessment send your sample to KEBS or HACCP.

Hurray, you have made your first product! You can go on to apply it on your bread and enjoy and sell to make some handsome profits.

Pawpaw farming guide for Kenya

Growing pawpaws is also easy and has numerous advantages. You can even grow pawpaws for your home use right in the backyard or even your balcony.

Pawpaw fruits and products also have a huge unsatisfied market both in Kenya and in the export market. You can make up to 1 million shillings in profits from just an acre of pawpaw every year for five years, having planted only once. Since I have been doing this for a while, I put together a guide to help you through. You can now request for it from our Resources Page.

There’s Ready Market For Your Fruits: Contact The Following Companies

The horticulture subsector of Kenyan agriculture is definitely the fastest growing and the most lucrative one. If you would like to venture into agribusiness and make really good money, then fruit farming is one of the areas you should consider.

One of the fears that Kenyan farmers have had is that their produce goes to waste due to lack of market thereby bringing them to great loses. However, with the rate of industrialization in Kenya and the establishment of industries based on processing of fruits, lack of market is something that should not bother you now. Here is a list of companies in Kenya that will readily buy your fruits once you fulfill their requirements:

FRESH SQUEEZE LTD

This company offers one of the best opportunities for fruit farmers in Kenya since they have realized that many people have turned to the use of fruit juice as compared to soft drinks. As a result, their products are made of pure fresh fruits and have no additives. To ensure quality of their products, they do not add any preservatives or pasteurizers and the fruits used are selected from certified farmers who have fulfilled certain regulatory requirements. Their juices are available in various supermarkets in various flavors such as mango, pineapple, and carrot and orange.

Also Read: You Too Can Grow Grapes In Kenya and Make a Good Profit

FRANK FRESH JUICE LTD:

They are the manufacturers of the commonly known “LITE” products in the market. They produce the highest quality of fresh fruit juices and bottle them to supply to the market. Other products that they offer include exciting fruit and vegetable combination to a range such as carrot as well as pineapple. They obtain their products from farmers and can be contacted through +254 721 45453 or email frankndud@yahoo.com or frankfreshjuice@gmail.com

MILLY FRUIT PROCESSING PLANT

They are the manufacturer of high standards of fruit juices branded “Picana products and Milly products” as they use sophisticated modern machineries and technology for the best products. Milly Fruit Processing Plant processes large quantity of tropical fruits like Mangoes, Passions, Orange, Grapefruit and Pineapple. Products include fruit concentrates, fruit juice and fruit drinks which are real, fresh and 100% pure fruit extract. They can be contacted through P. O. Box: 90522, Mombasa, Kenya and phone 0722 572 640.

Also Read: Pixie Orange Farming: A Worthy Investment For The Year 2022

VICTORIA JUICE COMPANY LTD

This company manufactures and supplies fruit juices branded “TAMU products”. TAMU juices are made from natural fruit concentrates sourced from the best orchards in the world, with most of the fruits being obtained from local farmers. They have a range of products from sweet mango to nutritious multivitamin and different fruit cocktails.

PREMIER FOOD INDUSTRIES LTD

Premier Food Industries Ltd. (PFIL) is a leading food processing company in Kenya, manufacturing over 50 different products under the brand name among others PEPTANG and PEP. Through their farming program, they support over 20,000 small scale farmers. They have greatly transformed the Shimba hills area by providing jobs and market for farmers products in the area. They can be contacted through info@peptang.com and Phone number +254 20 8011108

FRIGOKEN

Established in 1989, Frigoken Limited (FKL) is currently Kenya’s largest vegetable processor. They work predominately with a network of more than 70,000 registered small scale farmers spread all over Kenya. They provide all farmers with a guaranteed market and a fair market price for supply of produce all year round. High quality inputs are also provided and recovered on an interest free basis at the end of the growing season, underwriting the losses of the inputs associated with natural calamities. However, they mostly deal with vegetables. They can be contacted through +254 (0) 20 2391717/21 P.O.BOX 30500–00100 Nairobi, Kenya.

Fruits on demand by processors

Some of the fruits they deal with include: Apples, Avocado, Bananas, Cashewnuts, Coconuts, Grapefruits, Guavas, Horned Melons, Lemons, Macadamia nuts, Mangos, Oranges, Passion Fruits and Pawpaw.

Also Read: How To Produce Fruits And Vegetables For Export Market For Extra Profit

Take on one of these fruits and you are assured of ready market working with these companies. If you are new in fruit farming or you would like to increase your production, get a copy of one of the comprehensive guides from our Resources Page. 

Is Pawpaw Farming in Kenya Profitable: The Costs and Returns Per Acre

I have lately spoken and written a lot about pawpaw farming as a viable investment channel in Kenya and I have had to answer many questions from my readers. One of the most prominent questions has been, “But how profitable is pawpaw farming in Kenya?”

Pawpaw farming in Kilifi, Kenya

So I want to dedicate this whole article to answer that since profit is the sole reason for investment in agribusiness.

Cost of pawpaw farming per acre in Kenya

For the sake of these calculations, let us consider one acre piece of land. The initial costs will be:

• Land preparation (initial ploughing) 5,000
• Ridging (making the beds) 5,000
• Holes preparation (digging and mixing manure) 22,000
• Manure (1 canter lorry) 20,000
• Seedlings (1,100) 66,000
• Transplanting seedlings 5,500
• Total = 123,500

You can significantly bring down the cost of seedlings by raising your own. We have written a comprehensive article on How to Grow Pawpaw Seedlings From Seeds. If you have the patience and time, you can follow the steps highlighted there in and save some amount on initial farm set up cost. 

Organic pawpaw farming 

I encourage you to do organic pawpaw production. This way of farming has much lower costs in the end and gives you higher yields which translate to more profit. Of course the initial costs will be a bit higher than in conventional farming.

While the market in Kenya might not reward you with higher prices for producing your pawpaws organically, the money you save by eliminating the need for expensive pesticides is worth the effort.

The most important thing if you choose to do organic pawpaw farming is to ensure that your soils are healthy and with the right nutrients. A soil test therefore becomes necessary. A comprehensive soil test will cost Ksh 5,000 and will tell you exactly what your soils need.

You will also need to keep your soils moist throughout the growth period of your pawpaw. That sounds like an expensive affair especially considering that the best places for pawpaw farming are those with hot climate.

However, maintaining your soil moisture can be achieved at a low cost through mulching. 

Commercial pawpaw farming: More farmers in Kenya are considering pawpaw as a cash crop

Dry grass is the best mulching material and it should cost no more than Ksh 10,000 to cut and spread dry grass over an entire acre. If dry grass is not available, you can use a plastic mulch.

Expected returns

Pawpaw yields per acre vary slightly with variety. The best varieties in Kenya currently are solo sunrise, Calina IPB9 and Malkia which have an average production of 30 tons per acre annually.  

Solo sunrise has a longer production lifespan and can produce economically for 3 years. The dwarf pawpaw varieties Calina IPB9 and Malkia F1 have a shorter production lifespan of at most 2 years. However, their yield per acre during those first years is higher than that of solo sunrise. They also have bigger fruits which fetch more if sold per fruit rather than in kilos. 

Read also:

1. Why Solo Sunrise Is the Most Popular Pawpaw Variety in Kenya and the World

2. How To Choose The Best Pawpaw Variety For Farming In Kenya in 2020

So for the sake of our calculations we shall take the average yield per acre of 30 tons a year. Keep in mind that a better part of the first year is used to grow the trees. Production starts 9 months after transplanting.

So let’s assume that you transplant your seedlings at the onset of the long rains in April 2020. Your first harvest should be in January 2021.

In the period of Jan 2021 to Dec 2021, an acre will give you at least 30 tons of fruits. The current farm-gate price of pawpaw is Sh30 per kg. Therefore, we expect a turnover of Sh 900,000 for that period.

This same production is also expected in the second year of production (Jan 2022 to Dec 2022). The dwarf varieties would then reduce their production significantly in the 3^rd year of production but solo sunrise is likely to give at least 20 tons in that year (Jan 2023 to Dec 2023). 

The initial cost described above only applies in the first year. Other than that, recurrent costs of production include irrigation costs and the cost of a farm worker.

Without a doubt, pawpaw farming is a business that is known to few people in Kenya. While most people sit wondering whether pawpaw growing is worth the effort, its farmers in Makueni, Machakos and Meru are enjoying handsome profits. The tree is rather hardy and hence requires little maintenance practices. 

Also Read:

1. Miriti’s Ksh720,000 Per Month Plan From Pawpaw Farming in Meru Starts Paying Off

2. Pawpaw Farming In Kenya: How Much Do I Invest and What’s The Profit

The pawpaw farming guide below also provides you with all the information you need to grow pawpaws, both for home gardening and for commercial production. It is FREE and you can now download it from our Resources Page. 

Pawpaw farming guide for Kenya

How Simon Turned Pawpaw Farming Into A Money Making Business

Deep in the heart of the Kenya villages in Mwea, Kirinyaga County is a farmer who pawpaw farming business is thriving. His farming activities started off as an experiment and now seems to perfectly sail through and always giving him good results. In his multiple farming ventures, Mr. Simon Kinyua knows what is likely to do well and bring in some reasonable income.

One such crop he has tried and got results is the mountain pawpaw. The numerous health benefits associated with the pawpaw fruit and the increasing demand especially from Nairobi is what tempted Kinyua to give it a try. “I realized that the market was good in Nairobi during one of my regularly visits and so I decided to give it a try,” said Kinyua.

Pawpaw farming in Kenya: Kirinyaga

In just a quarter piece of farm, Mr. Kinyua grows nearly 100 mountain pawpaws out of which he is able to harvest on a weekly basis especially in a good season. The fruit is grown from seedlings which he propagates from his nursery just within the farm. After sowing seeds, it normally takes two months for the young seedlings to be ready for transplanting. 

The seedlings are transplanted into holes that are 2-feet deep and 2-feet square in width. The soil that goes into the hole is usually mixed with manure.

Pawpaws in Kenya grow productively in well aerated soils that also support vegetables. According to the farmer the crop is good as it takes a shorter period to start fruiting. “Just after one year from planting, my pawpaw are ready for harvesting,” he narrated.

The fruits are normally sold at 30 bob per kg but that is subject to changes dictated by demand and supply that do drive the price to sh50 per kg on the higher side.

While he can harvest one ton of papaya per week, he is keen to advice farmers to not that such high productivity is only attained through hard work.  One must practice efficient and favourable tillage methods that would guarantee a healthy pawpaw plant and thus result into maximum fruiting.

Kinyua, who also transports his produce to Nairobi, is not shy from revealing that he gets good returns from the fruit, he is also confident that the fruit has a huge potential and farmers in Kenya should consider pawpaw farming as a seriou business.

To deal with mites and blight, which are the biggest enemies of pawpaw, he applies pesticides to kill mites and prune the trees constantly to prevent blight.

For one to be a successful pawpaw farmer, Kinyua urges that one should attend trainings on soil sampling, seedling selection, crop husbandry and agrochemical use, among other essential aspects, to ensure maximum and quality production. And on climatic consideration, pawpaw does well in warm climate as it provides the best environment for flowering and fruit setting.

Pawpaw farming guide for kenya

Apart from farming pawpaw for a profit, eating it has benefits that go far beyond the generic boost of vitamin C. The fruit contains antioxidants that the body needs to fight cancer causing cells; they are a great source of proteolytic enzymes that are very important in digesting food; it also contains an enzyme called arginine which is known in the medically community to boost male virility; also medical practitioners believe that one of the of papaya is to control premature aging among many other benefits.

How to grow papayas in Kenya

I have compiled a lot of information on pawpaw farming and the various varieties good for various regions in Kenya. The Ultimate Papaya Production Guide is a PDF file containing detailed information on the entire production process right from seedling propagation, through land preparation and crop care to post harvest operations. You can now download it for free from our Resources Page.