Siaya farmer turns wasteland into food

By Mangoa Mosota

The land was a wilderness swathed by shrubs and thickets. It remained largely unused, except for the herd of cattle that grazed and roamed the entire expanse of the field. That was slightly more than one year ago.

But currently, the 15-acre track of land is under commercial farming — hosting both livestock and crops. The owner, Boaz Awitti, cultivates more than 10 diverse crops on the farm. Mr Awitti also rears dairy cows, chicken and goats. But that is not all. He has four fishponds. His exemplifies the benefits of diversification.

Mr Awitti, 65, bought the land one and half years ago. Within this short period, he has turned its poor soils into a goldmine. The land produces food that is sold in the locality and beyond.

Last year, Awitti’s hard work paid off when he was declared the best farmer in Nyanza Province. With the recognition, his farm, Hobby Farm Ltd at Alego Kaluo Village, Siaya District, hosted last year’s national celebrations to mark the World Food Day.

Looking at the yield, one would expect the soil on this farm is loam. However, it is largely clay with a mix of sand. As a result, Awitti has to use a lot of farmyard manure to ensure fertility of the soil is enhanced.

Awitti displays his trophies when he was declared best farmer in Nyanza Province. Photo: James Keyi/Standard

Thanks to the greenhouse on the farm, Awitti harvests tomatoes every two months. There are also grafted mangoes, and pineapples on the farm. Just last week, 70kg of onions were harvested and a fortnight ago, two of the four fishpond produced 60kg of fish.

Weekly harvests

Awitti, whose wife and nine children live in Nairobi, says in April, they will harvest fish from all the ponds that have 9,400 fingerlings. "Thereafter, we will be harvesting fish every after four months."

The farm manager says they harvest 100-150kg of sukuma wiki weekly and sell the green vegetables to local schools.

Awitti has eight permanent and 10 casual workers on the farm. The businessman says he plans to turn his venture into a demonstration farm.

"I would like farmers in Siaya and Nyanza Province to draw from my experience on Hobby Farm Ltd that we can make the region self-sufficient in food production, and economically empower ourselves," he says.

During the World Food Day at Awitti’s farm in October, Agriculture Secretary Wilson Songa said field days provide the best environment for farmers to acquire skills on how to improve agricultural production.

Dr Songa said unlike agricultural shows, field days provide a more practical approach for farmers.

As a challenge, Awitti cites the heavy capital and time required to prop up farming on a land proven to be barren. He, however, hopes to recoup his investment in a few years.