Lesson 1: Less is more!

Farmers have a lot of factors to consider when growing crops, what seeds to use? What fertilisers to apply? Do I irrigate in the morning or evening? How much water should I use? and the list goes on and on. We needed to lessen these questions so that they could grow more and increase their income. So, we decided to bring on board partners that would address each question a farmer would have across the value chain. From soil testing companies, to seed companies, to agronomists and even crop insurance companies all under 1 roof leaving our farmers to focus on purely what they love most which was crop husbandry.

Lesson 2: Weekly crop updates

We realized that visiting a farmer once a month to train them on how to grow inside a greenhouse was a long time and any recommendations given during this time were not quick to turn around the crop. We had to increase the number of visits so that we could be able to address any pests and diseases issues in time and avoid further damage. Even though some farmers received weekly visits, we had other farmers that only needed 1 visit every 2 weeks. The success was actually more visible on the bi weekly visits and allowed us to adopt this as the standard agronomic practice for all our farmers under the greenhouse plus+ program.

Lesson 3: Economies of Scale

Different farmers took different sizes of greenhouses from our Kadogo greenhouse 8M by 15M=120sq.m all the way to our Mzoefu Greenhouse 16M by 30M=480sq.m (almost the size of a basket ball pitch). In all these greenhouses, they all had fixed costs while some costs were variable and depended on the size of the greenhouse. Variable costs included seeds, fertilizers, chemicals and even water for irrigation. However, the fixed costs were labour salaries, agronomic visits and produce collection costs. Farmers with smaller greenhouses were using 1 person to take care of their greenhouse while farmers with even 2 units of the Mzoefu Greenhouse-16M by 30M were using the same 1 person. Salaries were the same but given that the production area was bigger on the second case, it allowed farmers with bigger units to enjoy a bigger pie. Agronomic visits were made 2 per month with each visit costing the same. Since this is taken as a consultancy, it has 1 cost not dependent on the growing area. The major disadvantage was the high capital costs of taking up the Mzoefu which costed 4 times the cost of the Kadogo. Our best performing size that was not too high for the farmer and at the same time the yield was significant to cover for the expenses was the Mwanzishi Greenhouse 8M by 30M. With an average of 33% return on investment per annum.

Lesson 3: Planting Cycles

Most of our farmers planted all their crops at the same time therefore when they went out of season, they did not have income to cushion them from monthly expenses such as salaries and utilities. For farmers that had taken more than one unit, we followed planting cycles by spacing the planting dates of each unit by up to 1 month which allowed them to have continuous harvests through out the entire year. The output of course would fluctuate but they were confident on having income spread out through out the growing cycle.

Lesson 4: Farming Records

As much as we had agronomists visiting these farms every two weeks, we needed to know what activities took place in the farm. We were able to note that farmers that had farming records had less occurrence of pests and diseases and their yield was much more. Identifying even causes of problems was easy as we could simply refer to the records for all information concerning the amount of water irrigated, the number of seeds planted, chemicals used and fertilizers applied. Farmers with records also found expansion easier as they had a point of reference for all their farming practice information. At the time of produce collection and payment reconciliation, it was also easy for the farmers to correct deliveries that our customers had complaints with. We hope to continue this practice to allow full traceability of our farms enabling the customers to get healthy foods.

Lesson 5: Management matters

We had farmers that succeeded and farmers that failed. When we did our root cause analysis to understand why failures occurred yet all farmers had the same agronomist, same seeds and same inputs, we realized that 87% of farmers failed because of poor crop management by the farm workers. We dug deeper and realized that the farm workers left to operate the greenhouses did not have any background or experience in agriculture. They were new to aspects of weeding, spraying and even irrigation. This made it difficult for them to implement recommendations given by the agronomists. In some cases, farm workers were spraying the wrong chemicals to the wrong plant causing more damage to the crops. For farms that had farm workers with experiences in farming, implementation of recommendations by the agronomist was excellent and this translated to greater yield.

Over the course of the implementation of greenhouse plus+, we have been able to deliver over 438 Tonnes of fresh produce from farms across Kenya to our customers both local and abroad. This access to the market has greatly helped our farmers who now can return their investment and continue growing their production sites in order to gradually increase their turnover.

We believe, by bringing on board all these partners needed on the value chain and connecting farmers to markets, we can increase income for farmers while ensuring we feed our growing urban population.

This product is currently available to all farmers in Kenya with plans to slowly roll out to East Africa.

We then slowly decided to listen to them and provide a solution because as a business, it is our role to adapt to our customer needs. However, we wanted to get it right from the beginning and so we applied to SPRING Accelerator a jointly funded business accelerator by DFID, USAID, Australian Aid and the Nike Foundation. In this program through design thinking developed possible solutions to these farmers that needed help on inputs and markets.

Several ideas were presented and had huge potential to be actual solutions but we had to select one and move forward with it. The only thing that we knew would ease the decision making was research and data. You know how they say in data we trust? Yes, that’s exactly where we were as a company. We needed data for us to determine which solution would work in the market.

Over 3 months we launched a research project across Kiambu County interviewing farmers on the problems they faced and the possible solutions we had for them and allowed them to choose what they felt would be a perfect fit solution. In the end, we analysed the data and almost all our farmers loved our idea called Greenhouse Plus+.

Here is why; Greenhouse Plus+ is a greenhouse plus inputs, agronomy support, crop insurance and market linkages all bundled in one cost leaving the farmer to focus on what they do best – production! Farmers wanted to focus on weeding, transplanting and tending their crops but not having to worry about who’s going to buy their products when it is ready. We went ahead and secured partnerships with vendors such as supermarkets, mama mboga and even schools where our farmers would then sell their harvests.

So, back to your question, do you want a return once you purchase a greenhouse? Well, Greenhouse Plus+ is the product for you. By partnering with seed companies such as Royal Seed Kenya; Agronomists from KALRO centres across Kenya, insurance companies such as UAP Insurance to protect you against adverse weather (We all know this year 2018 floods were a headache!), soil and water testing companies such as Crop Nutritional Laboratory Services-CROPNUTS, we have managed to provide you with a greatly de-risked investment option while ensuring you have the right skilled people to guide you during your production as we collect the harvests and issue you with payment.

We are confident with these new product offering as we believe it will create employment for many young Kenyans while ensuring we are a food secure country in a sustainable manner. Happy farming!

Simply keeping the greenhouse clean is not enough as some pests and diseases can be introduced through clothing or through physical touch. If gone unnoticed, these pesky little things can slowly cause irreparable damage to your investment.

What does greenhouse hygiene entail?

1. Use of protective clothing. This is not only important to your plants but also to you. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) includes a face mask, gloves, a coat/overalls and gumboots.Wearing PPE isn’t enough, one always has to ensure that they are clean. Employees should also use sanitize their hands before coming into contact with the crop. That means having a washing area near the entrances of the greenhouses.
2. Having a foot bath. A foot bath is a small area; can be a basin or a cemented area containing disinfectant where people can dip their boots in before/after getting in the greenhouse.
3. Clean tools. Always disinfect farming tools before and after use.
4. Keeping weeds at bay. A weed-free environment is the best way to ensure grow up strong and healthy. Not only are weeds a breeding ground for pests, but they also tap into the juicy nutrients, water, sunlight and space that are only meant for your crops.
5. General cleanliness. Removing debris from your crops. Debris might include crop residue and pruning remains. This debris usually become a perfect breeding ground for pests and diseases which might cause nasty infections to your plant. The debris should be collected and thrown away as far as possible or burnt.
6. Always treat any infected plant at first glance. Check the neighbouring plants too for any infection, if need be, treat them as a preventive measure to nip the infection before it spreads to the whole house. If the infected plant (s) don’t recover, its best to cut your losses and remove them.

Quick tips:

• Scouting regularly, if not daily, will ensure that any signs of pests and diseases are caught early.
• The greenhouses/areas with the infections should be worked on last in order to minimize the spread of pests/diseases to the healthy greenhouses/areas.

Although it doesn’t fall under greenhouse hygiene, it’s also best to minimize traffic inside the greenhouse. Minimize opening and closing of the greenhouse door to when tending to the crops so that pests don’t gain entry.

Maintaining a clean greenhouse is a cost-effective and stress-free way to minimize pests and pathogen infestations. Money and time that could have been used on pesticides can be allocated to other areas. Remember, prevention is better than cure.

Common vegetables and fruits exported from African countries to the European Union (EU) include;

Demand for dried fruits has been on the rise, the UK being the biggest importer. Common dried fruits include mangoes, apples, pistachio and grapes.

What has led to the increase in export crops over the last few years?

1.  Attractive prices in the export market; which is almost double what the local markets offer.
2. Consumers’ desire for diversity and awareness of health benefits from these crops in developed
   nations.
3. Adverse effects of the Greenhouse Effect in developed nations making the African continent a
   viable candidate for growing exotic horticultural produce.

[A table from the EPC showing export statistics since 2011 to 2015. Source from http://epckenya.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=43&Itemid=62]

Did you know; In the 1990s, Kenya was the main supplier of fresh and chilled vegetables in the European Union?

One can either export crops through a company, what is known as Contract Farming or one can do it on their own. Good thing, The Export Promotion Company (EPC) has got us covered. For the lone rangers, the EPC has been kind enough to outline directions on how to become an exporter of horticultural
produce on this link;
Click Here

Starting on your own might be difficult especially the part where one has to source for clients in foreign countries, which leaves the option of contract farming. There are a number of companies here in Kenya dealing with contract farming; Illuminum Greenhouses being one of them.☺

Some of the benefits of Contract farming include;

• Assurance of markets to farmers. Lack of markets is one of the major reasons why investors shy
  away from the agricultural sector.
• Farmers’ price risk is often reduced as commodity prices are specified in advance.
• Contract farming opens up new markets which would otherwise be unavailable to small-scale
  farmers.
• Elimination of middlemen who have been known to exploit farmers.

Tips:
1. In contract farming, always insist on contracts. If need be, have a lawyer go through them to
ensure the authenticity of the transactions.
2. For the lone rangers, thorough research is required of the bodies involved in the Export business
and the regulations in place. A good place to start would be KEPHIS and audit firms such as DNV-GL that award Global GAP Certificates upon successful farm audits.

Happy Exporting!

When we were approached to run with this project by some of the real estate companies, they all had one goal in mind, for us to “guarantee” a return of a minimum Ksh.900,000 per year from an 8M by 15M Greenhouse which is the standard size of the structure in the market. We first had an issue on the term and word guarantee which basically means “… a formal promise or assurance (typically in writing) that certain conditions will be fulfilled…” Secondly, on the value of the return. It was indeed ambitious and is yet to be validated by any greenhouse farmer under our umbrella that we have worked with over the past 5 years.

Why ambitious? The 8M by 15M Greenhouse takes in 400 plants with a spacing of 60cm each with a practical average yield of 15Kgs per plant over a complete season (9Months). A kilo of greenhouse tomatoes usually fluctuates across the year as it competes with the outdoor grown tomatoes dropping prices up to Ksh.20 per kilo while when the open field farmers aren’t harvesting, greenhouse farmers fetch up to Ksh.80 per kilo. However, with this concept, the farmer is assured a fixed rate of Ksh.50 per kilo giving the total returns at Ksh.300,000 as gross revenue. It is expected that expenses such as fertiliser, chemicals, agronomic support and management charges are deducted before sending the net revenue to the client with most expenses averaging Ksh.100,000 leaving a net value of Ksh.200,000.

Where then does Ksh.900,000 arise from? It is our desire and belief that farmers and investors are provided with the right information before committing their hard earned money to acquire this concept. For our partners, we have come out openly and put the facts on the table that we as a company cannot guarantee returns but instead can assure our clients that we have  the experience and expertise needed to ensure their investment gives a return sufficient to make the concept sustainable.

We shall at all times remain transparent on this matter and look forward to continually working with Kenyans in an open and honest manner to achieve both improved incomes and a food secure country.

What do I plant?

This is a common question asked by aspiring farmers. This question is normally followed by a series of questions, Will it do well? Is there a ready market? What are the returns?

One of the things to consider is the type of soil on your land. The soil provides your plants with the essential nutrients, water and air, necessary for healthy growth and development. Knowing the type of soil on one’s land will go a long way in guiding you on what to plant. There are many types of soil; they include loamy, sandy, clay, and silty. In Kenya, we have loamy sands which are found in the highlands, alluvial (silt) soils found along river valleys, volcanic soils found in sub-humid regions such as the lake regions and black cotton soils found in places like Mwea. Different soils have different advantages and shortcomings; the sooner you get to know them the better. Soil tests are also encouraged as a preventive measure before planting.

Another thing you need to consider is the climate. This mainly applies to farmers who opt for open field farming. Climatic factors such as rain, wind, humidity, temperature and light are essential to plant growth but excess or lack off might negatively affect your crops. For example, wind is essential for pollination but excess wind might cause excessive water loss or even destroy your plants. One of the major things to consider is the market availability. You don’t want to be stuck with 1000kgs worth of produce. Find out the types of crops that are profitable. One may also research on the types of companies out there that buy crops for exports and compare this with prices in local markets. Obviously the companies will win but they might require a lot of things for one to be considered viable for their export programs, thus, making local markets the best solution. Examples of websites that provide farmers with marketing information in Kenya are National Farmers Information Service (NAFIS), M-farm and many more that are just a click away.

Next comes the wait. Anxiety sets in, hair falls out, prayer meetings are held, sacrifices are done (LOL). Mrs. X told you how her tomatoes did so well but yours don’t look like hers. What could be the problem? Most of the time, you lack good advice and not from Mrs. X, but from an experienced professional we call an agronomist. Agronomists are research scientists who study plants and soil to help farmers get better crop yields. An experienced agronomist will provide information and guidance on the right chemicals, fertilizers and inputs to use from planting all the way to harvesting.

I hope this information helps.

Happy Planting!

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we are curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths”– Walt Disney

Farming success stories have become the new-age form of seduction for most investors. Farmers have been to known to triple their initial investment in a matter of months! Therefore, armed with THE multibillion agricultural idea, the required finances and land, how does one convert the idea into actual money? Here are a few simple rules and mistakes beginning farmers should avoid:

Do’s

• Do become knowledgeable on the subject. The farmer should attend workshops and seminars, read various articles related to the crop you want to venture in. Farmers will be able to interact with experts and learn on new technologies.
• Do start small. The most advisable thing to do as a first time farmer for the first growing season is to start small and expand gradually. However big a land you have, it would be advisable to dedicate a small portion of land during the first season. This will make management easy.

Don’ts

• Don’t assume! Many farmers usually brush of details they deem to be unimportant such as soil testing to find out whether the soil’s nutrients, contamination level, composition and acidity level. Overlooking some of these issues might lead to huge losses.
• Don’t obtain information from the wrong sources. Do not only rely only on advice from other farmers. Use agronomists from known agricultural companies or the Ministry of Agriculture.
• Don’t ignore. For example, a farmer might decide to spray his crops once a month instead of twice as is required. This might lead to crop infections which could have otherwise been avoided.

Farming has been made easier by greenhouses. Greenhouses are typically equipped with plastic walls which helps in moisture retention and regulation of temperatures. Farmers can, therefore, capitalize on out-of-season crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, basil, and other vegetables that usually command high prices in some markets. Plants are prone to damage from insects. A greenhouse keeps plants in isolation, locked safely away from the outside world where insects, rodents and other animals could damage crops.

Greenhouses come in all sizes depending on the size of your land or your preference. The most obvious reason to have a greenhouse is that one can grow vegetables and flowers all year round. Greenhouses also protects crops from weather elements such as blizzards and high winds. At Illuminum Greenhouses we offer high quality, modern greenhouses at affordable prices. We also have professionals who will provide expert advice to farmers. Our goal is to provide quality products and services that will ease the farmer’s journey. For more information, please visit our website at www.illuminumgreenhouses.com

Agri-Investors being shown Herbs for Export

Participants of the training included guest speakers from Farmlift, Farmsoft, KCB Bank and our professionally trained team who got to equip our farmers with the necessary knowledge on what is really needed through out the entire agriculture value chain. While we focused on agricultural equipment needed to farm, Farmlift shared on proper farm management with record keeping and KCB provided information on access to agriloans to allow our investors access capital.

The overall objective of the agribusiness training is to support agri-investors and agriculturalists achieve sustainable production through equipping them with detailed information on agriculture as well as giving them a visual on how the produce evolves from the soil to the plate.

Agri-Investors being shown Global GAP Compliance

We did this by visiting one of our clients Millicent Ruteere, CEO Celine Farms, who deals with exports in herbs where we discussed Global GAP certification and the process taken to certify your produce for export. The response from this training was phenomenal, we had all the slots filled up and already are taking in interested agri-investors for the upcoming training. We would like to announce that we have finally decided to make the training’s a monthly occurrence to ensure we reach as much investors wanting to invest in the sector. Though the training is currently being done in Nairobi, we will slowly begin rolling our similar programs across the country to allow other investors access this information. For any dates of the upcoming training, please follow our social media pages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We look forward to having you on our training.