Where farming ventures help in conserving nature

A group of farmers in Mt Elgon, Bungoma County are earning handsome income in tree farming and bee-keeping. Aside from being a source of livelihood, the enterprise is a means of conserving the environment.

The farmers under the Cheptais-based Kenya Agriculture Reforms Elgon Unit Managing Programme for Youth in Agriculture (Kareu Mpya), a community-based organisation, have pooled resources to set up the 10-acre private forest with medicinal trees and almost 100 beehives.

The 24 members contributed Sh1,000 as startup capital for the investment nine years ago and the returns have been encouraging. The farmers have received a major boost due to the increased demand for Prunus Africana, one of the medicinal plants in their private forest.

“Prunus Africana is one of our treasured tree due to its medicinal value. The plant is used to treat prostate cancer among other diseases, fetching us more money than the traditional maize farming,” says Emmanuel Masake, the project manager. The plant, he adds, can be intercropped with maize with a kilo of the plant fetching Sh600.

A mature Prunus Africana weighs about between 80 and 100 kilos and every part of the tree is considered medicinal.

The group has more than 500 Prunus Africana and they expect to earn over Sh300,000 from it upon harvest.

Apart from using the trees for medicinal purposes, they also help in conserving the environment.

He regretted that there is a lot of deforestation going on in Mt Elgon Forest.

“As a group, we are dealing in environmental conservation through our bee-keeping initiative that also earns us a steady income. Through the venture we have also seen that the surrounding farms get good crops through pollination,” explains Mr Masake.

The group has invested in modern bee-keeping, a business that is earning them about Sh600,000 annually.

“A kilogramme of honey goes for about Sh300 and one beehive can produce about 15 kilos which is good money to the group,” says Mr Masake.

The region, he notes, has three honey harvesting seasons, adding that investment in modern top bar beehives has enabled the group to realise more honey.

“We used to do traditional beehives but now we have embraced the modern ones because they are big and produces more honey,” Mr Masake says.

In order to earn more money through value addition, the group has invested in a honey processing centre at Cheptais township.

“There are several by-products from honey such as wax which when processed earn us additional income to sustain our operations,” he says.

The group has launched aggressive marketing strategy securing local and international buyers for the honey products.

“Apart from the local markets in the western Kenya region, our honey products have penetrated markets in the United States of America and Ghana due to its high quality,” The group’s Site manager Paul Etyang told Enterprise.

He discloses that there is a high demand for their honey at Cheptais Sub County Hospital where it is used to help treat respiratory diseases. The group has also embarked on agroforestation programmes to increase the forest cover of Mt Elgon Forest which forms one of the five water towers in the country.

“It is our expectation that the community participate in more tree planting programmes as part of environmental conservation and check the effects of climate change,” adds Mr Etyang.

He urges the government to introduce clear policies on wanton harvesting of trees by timber merchants blaming the weak regulations for destruction of water catchment areas.