Pastor Paul Njiru turns unproductive coffee farm into lucrative banana plantation

Paul Njiru’s farm on his parent’s property is one busy place. Meticulous workers tend to plants and visitors from far and wide keenly take notes crowd the small farm in Iveche village, just outside Embu town.

But it was not always like this. Three years ago, poverty pervaded this compound. The mud houses that dotted the compound are now giving way to stone houses, a sign that its owners are doing well.

Pastor Paul Njiru shows tissue culture banana seedlings at his nursery in Iveche village, Embu West sub-county during the interview last week. From the nursery and a two-acre banana orchard, Njiru and his brother are reaping generous profits. (PHOTO: JOSEPH MUCHIRI/STANDARD)

In 2013, Njiru quit his job as a pastor in Nairobi, where he received a monthly allowance of Sh15,000, to return home to farm. But never in his wildest dreams did he think that his intention to till his father’s small farm would turn him and his brother into millionaires in five years.

Determined to end the circle of poverty afflicting his family, Njiru and his brother Nicasio decided to venture into agribusiness. For a while, they toyed with the idea of trying either tomatoes, capsicum or bananas.

“Upon research and market surveys, we settled on tissue culture banana farming since the market is readily available at good prices that do not fluctuate. Tomatoes and capsicum on the other hand have limited shelf life. We then convinced our parents to uproot some of their coffee trees as the crop was generating poor returns and couldn’t be expected to turn around the family’s fortunes,” says Njiru.

Huge returns

Although his brother came up with the idea, Njiru was to be the executor. Njiru relocated home to nurture the initiative under the name Safalmond Limited. He also took a job at a local church so he could continue his other calling, spreading the gospel.

Using savings and a loan from a bank, the brothers began their project. They purchased 1,200 tissue culture banana seedlings and planted them on two acres of their father’s land.

Tending the banana for the first year was money-sapping as they had to purchase fertiliser, chemicals and hire labour.

“Fortunately, we had joined an irrigation project which provided us with all the water we needed. A single banana seedling requires 40 litres of water when transplanting and 20 litres twice a week. We also used the manure from our parent’s cows,” says Njiru.

A year later, their hard work started paying off. Their first batch of bananas was ready for harvest and the two brothers made quite a fortune.

The two acres brought the brothers at least Sh1 million in profits. This week, they sold 1,540kg of bananas at Sh14 per kg. The price of tissue culture bananas ranges between Sh12 and Sh18 per kg depending on the market forces of demand and supply.

At an average of Sh15 per kilogramme, an acre of tissue culture banana can fetch as much as Sh540,000 annually. Annual cost of production averages Sh180, 000.

A proud Njiru took the Smart Harvest team on the process of producing tissue culture banana. First, holes measuring 3ft by 3ft by 3ft are dug. A spacing of 9ft between two holes must be strictly adhered to. With this, one acre can accommodate 600 stems, with each plant allowed a maximum of seven shoots.

Two wheelbarrows full of manure and 200g of DAP fertiliser are then mixed with the top soil.

Immediately after transplanting, the plant is fed with 40 litres of water. Bionematode, a chemical that kills infections and pests, is then applied. The plant requires no further care besides the 20 litres of water twice every week and two additional wheelbarrows of manure at two months.

Tissue culture bananas mature in 12 to 13 months and are pests and disease resistant. Each banana plant bears fruit that averages 60kgs. The FHIA variety, however, takes 16 months to harvest.

Banana nursery

“FHIA 17 and 18 attains an average weight of between 50 and 150kgs, but the highest we have ever achieved in our farm is 138kgs. Grand Naine, Williams, Ng’ombe and Gal varieties attain between 40 to 80kgs while giant Cavendish averages between 50 to 100kgs,” says Njiru.

The brothers also run a tissue culture banana nursery which they started in 2014 with 1,500 seeds obtained from a local firm. From the good profits they made from selling the banana plantlets to local farmers after two months, they increased their nursery to 28,000 seeds imported from Israel.

“No Kenyan laboratory could provide us with such a huge number and we had to source abroad. We import a seed at between Sh50 and Sh80 depending on the variety, inclusive of transport costs. We then plant the seeds in polythene bags inside a nursery fenced with a net to keep off insects and regulate temperature,” says Njiru. “The seedlings are ready for sale at eight weeks and go for between Sh100 and Sh200 depending on the variety.”

The brothers make a profit of between Sh1.2 million and Sh1.5 million from selling seedlings annually.

Currently, there are 13 varieties of bananas in their nursery ready for sale.

“The nursery is promising and we plan to expand it from half an acre to one acre. Our long term vision is to start our own laboratory so that we can propagate our own plantlets and upscale production,” Njiru says.

The farm employs four permanent workers and engages five casuals for three weeks every month. Njiru also rears pigs to supplement his tissue culture banana earnings.

But the poor road network from their farm to the Embu-Meru Highway, especially during the rainy seasons, is their main challenge.

From their farm’s proceeds, the brothers are building a Sh2 million house for their parents. They also pay school fees for their younger siblings.