Nyanza farmers start cashing in on mobydick

By George Olwenya

A flower that was considered as a weed is slowly transforming lives of residents of Siaya District and the larger Nyanza Province.

It all started in October 2009, when Collins Omondi Okumu visited a friend in Naivasha and found that a wild plant in his Uyemba-Ochilo village in Siaya District was actually being grown for export.

When Okumu returned from Naivasha, he decided to try his hand at it and ended up becoming the first farmer in Nyanza to grow mobydick for export.

Okumu’s Ochilo Wonderland farm soon started attracting farmers from Nyanza and Western provinces who wanted to learn about the cash crop.

One such farmer, Stephen Ooko now exports 10,000 flowers to the Netherlands a week.

"I have a three-acre farm in Siaya and I have received about Sh3 million between September, last year, and March, from export of mobydick to Europe," he says.

He says when the demand for flowers is high he is forced to travel to Kilgoris where he buys from the local farmers.

He says the region now exports between 30,000 to 50,000 mobydick flowers every week. Similarly, middlemen in the flower industry have also invaded Nyanza as only a few farmers have connections with the European market. He says apart from Siaya, mobydick farming is also thriving in Oyugis, Kendu Bay, Ahero and Kilgoris.

Weather conditions

In Siaya, over 100 farmers have stopped growing cotton as a cash crop and turned to mobydick, which now covers more than 60 acres of farmland.

Many of the farmers, however, are unaware of the challenges of exporting flowers to Europe, especially its strict quality restrictions.

Last year, many of them suffered huge loses for lack of market following adverse cold weather conditions in Europe, while others have seen their consignments land in the hands of unscrupulous middlemen and exporters. But a good number are doing well and that is why you will see cartons of mobydick destined for The Netherlands leaving Siaya every week for the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.

Some of the successful farmers say they deliver the product within 24 hours, while it takes two days for the auction and the money sent to them.

Last month he says brokers from Nairobi had flocked parts of South Nyanza as the flowers were in high demand, with Easter holidays approaching. The farmers say the danger of dealing with brokers is that one is likely to be short-changed and they prefer dealing directly with an exporter.

"When you deal with a licensed importer in Europe, you will know how much your flowers fetched at the auction and what is due to you," says Ooko.

A retired veterinary surgeon Boniface Okumu Osodo, now a farmer in Karapul, in the outskirts of Siaya town, says he uses the Internet to source for customers.

Osodo says the customers abroad are indeed the importers and it is through the assistance of the District Business Solution Centre at the Kenya Industrial Estates in Siaya that most local farmers communicate through e-mail with the importers for orders.

After realising that they were being exploited, Osodo says they had to form an association of mobydick flower farmers.

He says many farmers went into mobydick farming without knowing the agronomical practices and the export market intrigues.

"One should know the time of planting which must be determined by the market in Europe," states Osodo.

"January, February, March and April are the months that one must harvest because the market is ready abroad," adds Osodo. "We have told our farmers to learn from those who have been doing it right because these flowers have no local market and Europe is the only destination."

A flower, he says, must also adhere to the calendar that coincides with the Valentines Day, Easter holidays and Christmas.

Freight charges

Osodo says the stems of mobydick have to look healthy. "The farm must be free of fungi and insects. This can be achieved through spraying at least once a week," he adds.

The Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service has been keeping an eye on the business and advising farmers.

For the flower to get into the European market, the stems have to be clean with the best grade having five bolls and four bolls for grade two.

The stems of the flowers are also measured at 72cm for grade one and 62cm for the second grade. It is the first harvest that yields the best quality and if the farm is not well managed, quality falls.

Successful farmers say the trick is maintaining the quality. "One can harvest many flowers but end up with nothing because if the poor quality lands in Europe, then you are charged with dumping," warns Osodo.

Despite the hurdles, Osodo says they have ways of getting their produce into the market.

After harvesting, farmers bring their flowers for packaging in a building rented at the Kenya Industrial Estates in Siaya town.

This is after they have gotten in touch with importers in The Netherlands through the Internet.

Because they do not have any other means, flowers are transported through country buses, which charge Sh50 per carton.

Once in the Country Bus station in Nairobi, they are taken to JKIA and left in the hands of cargo handlers who are also responsible for delivering of the consignments to their destinations in The Netherlands.

Many of the small-scale farmers are not doing badly and can earn up to Sh140, 000 on a good day in The Netherlands.

Osodo and Ooko, however, say 60 per cent of their earnings settle freight charges.