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The Food Issue
2016
Grains
West
24
A
lthough it is a country perhaps best
known for its adventure tourism,
Kenya also contributes to one of Africa’s
most important agricultural hubs and is
home to countless small-scale farmers.
Joseph Oloo is one of those farmers.
Along with his wife Angeline Atieno
Sewe and their children, he manages a
two-acre farm in western Kenya, about
500 kilometres from the bustling capital
of Nairobi.
The 37-year-old farmer typically grows
sorghum, maize, groundnuts, soybeans
andmillet. They are the most widely eaten
food crops by most of the families in the
community, according to Oloo. There
are also a handful of livestock roaming his
farmland for manure distribution. From
the time Oloo was in primary school, he
studied agriculture. At one point, he was
a field assistant for the International Plant
Nutrition Institute, a global non-profit
dedicated to managing plant nutrition “for
the benefit of the human family.”
Oloo’s farm has a contoured border
of deciduous silky oak trees that acts as
a windbreak and helps the water table
recharge. “Dropping leaves also form
biomass (organic matter),” he said. In
addition, he fertilizes with compost
manure, which adds nutrients to the
soil and improves its structure for crop
development.
The region’s rains largely dictate Oloo’s
agricultural schedule. Biannual rains
let him knowwhen it is time to begin
planting and harvesting. The first planting
is usually at the end of March or in early
April, followed by a mid-August harvest.
Farmers can then plant again in early
September and harvest a second time in
January. It’s normal to receive 1,500 mm or
more of annual rainfall in the area, which
works great for Oloo’s water-intensive
crops like maize, millet and sorghum.
However, the rain can all fall in a matter of
weeks, making it challenging for plants
to persevere through both excessive
moisture and prolonged dry spells.
For his operation, Oloo’s tools of
the trade represent a vastly different
approach to farming than that of most
Canadian farmers. “I use a jembe
(hoe), panga (machete), planting line,
tape measure and I hire a tractor for
ploughing. Other farm equipment
includes a knapsack sprayer with
herbicides,” he said. “I also do minimum
tillage by spraying herbicides and plant
without disturbing the soil.”
His family helps during planting, and
everyone takes turns weeding and
applying fertilizer. There’s also a slate of
casual workers who weed and harvest
crops.
For Oloo, a successful growing year
is when “the rainfall is adequate and
harvest is bumper … and every home
has enough stock to survive on.”
In 2010, Kenyan citizens voted to
rewrite the country’s constitution,
which paved the way for the national
government’s delegation of powers to
47 largely autonomous counties within
Kenya. For agriculture specifically, this
means that issues can now be examined
at a more hands-on level that recognizes
regional differences.
“The county government bought
tractors, which farmers have (available)
at a subsidized price,” Oloo said, adding
that the county has also sold subsidized
fertilizer and seeds to area farmers.
When Oloo began farming 10 years
ago, profits were much lower.
“The farming pattern has improved
from old method to modern techniques,
improving income and food security,” he
said, adding he earns five times what he
did when he started farming.
Kenya
calling
SMALL-SCALE AGRICULTURE
IS A WAY OF LIFE IN THE EAST
AFRICAN NATION
BY TREVOR BACQUE
Photo: Courtesy of Agrium