Soya beans turn around family fortunes

Kenya: For Moses Ngota, a father of eight, from Mungoye village, Luanda in Vihiga County, soya bean farming is like manna from heaven.

The 57-year-old had been toiling on his farm for decades planting beans and maize. What he used to harvest was consumed by his family and he had to do menial jobs to supplement his income.

But when a team of experts from the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI) visited the area, his suffering literally stopped.

The CABI team together with Farm Input Promotions-Africa (FIPs-Africa), the organisation’s Compro II project implementor, educated farmers on how to grow soya beans inoculated with biofix.

Moses Thuita, a researcher involved in coordinating the Compro II project, says microbial or soil inoculants are agricultural amendments that use beneficial microbes to promote plant health.

He says biofix is an organic fertiliser researched and developed by the University of Nairobi since 1981.

“It is tailored to meet the needs of leguminous crops. Once planting seeds are innoculated with Biofix, the action of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the soil is greatly enhanced increasing the crops nitrogen intake to levels higher than those experienced with mineral fertilisers. The result is faster growth and a bountiful harvest for leguminous crops, such as beans, peas, cowpeas and soybeans,” he says.

Armed with the new knowledge, Ngota abandoned maize and bean farming and embraced soya beans. He was given a packet of soya beans to plant.

Then his fortunes changed. “I have been planting soya beans for the last three years and it has made a difference in my life. Last year I harvested about 100kg from a quarter an acre at sold 90 kilogrammes at Sh270 per kilo. I got Sh24,300. This is money I had never had in my life,” Mr Ngota says.

The farmer usually sets aside part of the produce for family consumption and sells the surplus.

“We plant twice a year and the crop thrives even when there is little or no rain. It takes averagely three months to mature and is not labour intensive,” Ngota says.

Given the good proceeds, he has now planted soya on four acres.

“I expect to harvest 900kg by end of this month and I am sure I will get more money this time round,” Ngota says.

He says his family also roasts soya beans, crushes them and uses it as beverage instead of tea leaves. One can also make cakes from the produce.

 

“There are many agricultural extension officers now than in the past. We work with them well and this has enabled farmers adopt modern agricultural techniques to boost production to ensure food security,” Mr Namenya says.

James Watiti, senior communication manager at CABI says one of the reasons the orgnaisation was identified as valuable partner in the COMPRO II project, was because of its work in supporting knowledge sharing on integrated soil fertility.

“CABI strives to improve livelihoods, working with the communities that it serves to address the problems they face using sustainable approaches. We work towards improved productivity, improved quality, and conformity to market standards enable the region’s farmers to achieve a better income from their produce,” Mr Watiti says.

Benson Maniaji, FIPs-Africa coordinator says majority of the farmers are very excited by the results of soya beans adding that 57,000 farmers in Nyanza and Western have adopted the biofix soya bean technology.

The farmers are spread in Kakamega, Vihiga, Bungoma, Busia and Siaya counties.

COMPRO II is managed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture working closely with partner agencies and national regulatory authorities and is supported by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The project currently covers Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda in East Africa, and Ghana and Nigeria in West Africa.

The project aims to improve crop yields of smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa to improve food security, reduce rural poverty and improve livelihoods through increased crop yields of at least 30 per cent for selected crops as a result of the adoption profitable technologies.