Unique peas that are hot cake in the export market

Florence Kamunya at her sugar snap peas farm at Mutaga Village at Sagana settlement Scheme in Mathira,Nyeri County on May 26,2016.PHOTO:KIBATA KIHU/STANDARD

In 1995, Florence Kamunya took a leap of faith and made a drastic change on her one acre farm at the Sagana Settlement Scheme in Mathira, Nyeri County.

Kamunya cut down her coffee and planted her first batch of sugar snap peas. It was a decision that would put her 21-years farming experience to test but it was worth the risk.

“When my parents subdivided the land and gave me an acre to settle my family, I wasn’t sure how I would use it. However, I was certain it would not yield enough money to support me if I went on with coffee farming,” Kamuya says.

Her decision to change to a relatively unknown crop was informed by the fact that other farmers in the scheme were looking for alternative or better sources of income aside from coffee farming.

“I wasn’t certain how the sugar snap would change my life but I knew the risk would be worth it considering it was purely for export,” Kamuya says.

Unfortunately, it was not easy getting good returns due to infiltration by brokers.

Sugar snap peas grown in Sagana are of the Cascadia variety and take only 60 days to mature. It is a type of legume popular in the European markets. Unlike common garden peas, sugar snap peas have edible pods.

“Most locals don’t like eating sugar snap peas because they think it is odd to feed on pods so there is no market locally. However, European countries are used to the sugar snap peas, and prefer them to garden peas,” Kamunya says.

The sugar snap peas thrive in cool environments, and the seeds should be planted one to one-and-a-half inches (2.5–4 cm) deep.

Snap peas vines may grow two metres in height but more typically, they are about 1.3 metres (about four feet) and require several poles erected to support the vines and keep them off the ground.

“The spacing between my peas is one metre, and the poles that support the vines are two metres apart,” Kamunya explains.

“One kilogramme of seeds will produce at least 500kgs of pods, and each kilo of cascadia pods is sold at Sh200,” she adds.

On her one acre farm, she has planted 6kgs of seeds which is expected to yield at least 20,000kgs of Cascadia pods.

Once the plants are mature, the pods are harvested twice a week for 10 weeks before the plants are cleared for another season.

“The plants are very sensitive to temperatures and are seasonal. However, because we are near Mt Kenya Forest, the cool weather is conducive for the peas to flourish,” Kamunya says.

The prices of the peas often fluctuate depending on the seasons in the European markets. For instance, during winter, demand for Kenyan sugar snap peas goes up to Sh200 per kilogramme but during summer, the prices fall to Sh80.

European consumers also determine the price of the sugar snap peas and this can often affect profit margins.

“As a farmer, I always keep myself informed on what is going on in the European markets so I can assess the best time to plant and harvest my peas,” the farmer says.

She says one of the challenges of growing food for the export market is maintaining the quality of produce without using large amounts of harmful chemicals to control pests or diseases.

“The European customers are very strict about foods exported to their countries and they test for maximum residue levels to determine if foods are fit for human consumption,” Kamunya says.

Kamunya says each year, she earns Sh360,000 on the off-peak season and Sh600,000 on peak.

She says the minimum amount she can spend on production especially on labour, fertiliser, and seeds is Sh60,000.

“It is labour intensive. For three months the plants are in the farm, they require constant care to keep them safe from pests such as thrips and leaf miners or diseases like powdery mildew and damping off,” Kamunya says.

To avoid these diseases and pests, she often rotates her crops to ensure minimum losses.

“Considering the sugar snap peas only take two months to mature, it is possible to plant them three times a year. However, I have learnt that it is not always advisable to do so because the crops can be susceptible to diseases,” Kamunya says.

Kamunya warns that many horticultural farmers operate at the mercy of brokers who exploit them because their produce is highly perishable. She says she once sold sugar snap peas to brokers at a paltry Sh8 per kilo.

“We were certain that horticulture farming was lucrative but we didn’t know how to go about it until in 2003 when several export companies started making offers to buy our produce directly,” Kamunya says.

Kamunya is now contracted by an export company which renews her contract every year depending on the terms.