Murang’a farmers dump coffee for profitable bananas

Banana farmer Mr Amos Mwangi who uprooted his coffee trees and replaced them with banana plants doses not regret as banana farming is profitable with quick returns. Mwangi a resident of Kaharati Village in Murang'a South district. PHOTO: BONIFACE GIKANDI/STANDARD

MURANG’A: At first, Amos Mwangi was bitter about how mismanagement of the coffee sector forced him to uproot his crop and replace it with bananas.

But the 40-year-old now has a different story to tell, saying he has experienced a blessing in disguise.  Mr Mwangi is among the well-to-do villagers in Kaharati, Murang'a as his banana farm is earning much more than the coffee plantation used to fetch him.

In 1997, Mwangi's family resolved to uproot the coffee trees upon realising that the huge losses they were making were not just about to end, as poor prices of the commodity continued to be registered at the Nairobi Coffee Auction. "With the banana crop, the family is able to sustain itself as many buyers flock to Kaharati and Saba Saba markets in search of quality produce," said Mwangi.

He said his family got upset with dwindling prices in coffee sector as one kilo fetched Sh5 at one point while a bunch of banana was bought at Sh250. Other families opted to abandon coffee farming as size of the land became small due to subdivision.

"Today, we sell banana bunches at between Sh300 and Sh500, depending on the size. We have traders from as far as Kajiado coming for our produce," said Mwangi.

Murang'a South Agriculture Officer John Waihenya said many of the former coffee farmers in Kaharati turned to horticulture and banana farming. "Although we discourage uprooting of the cash crop, the farmers went ahead and defied our advice as they went for crops that mature fast and have better income," said Mr Waihenya.

In Kangema, Elizabeth Njambi recounted the days coffee farming as profitable. She remembered with nostalgia how she was able to educate her children from proceeds of coffee. She said however, that currently, many farmers are sustaining their families through loans as proceeds have remained poor even as production costs increase.