Look up to ‘shamba la gorofa’ for the answer to your prayer for farmland

Mary Nanjero, a farmer from Emahondo village in Lurambi, Kakamega County, has built a one-storey concrete structure where she rears dairy cows on ground floor and tomatoes on the first floor. [PHOTOS: BENJAMIN SAKWA/STANDARD]

Potential farmers especially in urban areas, often complain of not having enough space to grow crops and raise animals.

But one farmer is beating this land scarcity problem, through vertical farming or shambala gorofa. The concept, common in Japan where scarcity of land is a big issue, works just the way a flat accommodates residents on ground floor, others first, second and so on.

So with vertical farming, a farmer can do one form of farming on one floor and so on. Mary Nanjero, a farmer from Emahondo village in Lurambi, Kakamega County, has built a one-storey concrete structure where she rears dairy cows on ground floor and tomatoes on the first floor. Where did she learn this?

“There was a time my husband Daniel Nanjero visited Japan and was amazed by what the farmers were doing with small spaces. He decided to give it a try when he came back home. I quit my job to help him start the project,” says Nanjero who quit her job as a sales person at Unilever to do vertical farming.

On their 60 by 50 land, they have planted 1,300 tomatoes on the first floor and kept eleven cattle — five Friesian, four Ayrshires with two Ayrshire calves on the ground floor.

No use of chemicals

The eye-catching semi-permanent structure was constructed using low cost materials like wood which covers first floor and bricks on the ground floor.

Instead of walls which block sunlight, the 20 feet high structure is covered with a transparent polythene bag to allow natural light.

The structure cost Sh350,000 to set up.

“Ours was cheaper because we used available materials. In Japan, such structures are relatively expensive to build because all the floors are made of concrete. We decided to make the floor using wood which serves the same purpose as concrete. The floor holds 1,300 tomatoes,” says Mrs Nanjero.

Instead of soil, the tomatoes are planted in a polythene containing a blend of bagasse (the fibrous matter that remains after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice) and cow dung manure obtained from the dairy segment.

Two stems of tomatoes are planted in a bag and suspended with strings tied to the roof of the structure.

The tomatoes on the first floor are ripe and they harvest two big wooden boxes and one crate (like of bread)of tomatoes every week which they sell at Kakamega, Bungoma and Transnzoia County.

Creates jobs for youth

A box of tomato fetches Sh5,000 while a crate attracts Sh2,000.

The two dairy cows both produce 139 litres per day with Ayrshire giving 55 litres. The milk is sold locally at Sh55 per litre. The innovative farm has employed five workers whose duties are to water and tender the tomatoes, take care of the cattle and take the produce from their vertical farm to the market. Nanjero says he does not regret quiting his job.

“Interestingly, when I was working I had two employees and the profits were dismal, but since I resigned to manage the farm business we have added three employees because the work load has increased and profits soared,” says Nanjero.

She encourages those with small farms to venture in vertical farming.

“Suppose one or two farmers were doing this (farming) in my village. We would purchase animal feeds in large quantities which would be cheap. We would also have constant supply of produce since no farmer can supply produce throughout the seasons,” she says.

Mr Nanjero, who was away at the time of the interview, said vertical farming is an innovative agri-business venture that if well embraced can transform the lives of many idle youth.