Rice is a staple food in much of the world and is of increasing importance in Kenya, which consumes way more rice than it produces. We are delivering a rice growing initiative in Western Kenya, a highly fertile region with great agricultural potential that has been largely neglected. The area is economically underdeveloped, with average incomes below $2 per day. Together with our local partners, we are addressing the barriers farmers face to succeed at growing rice, such as access to water, farming inputs, finance, training and markets.
Our assistance with irrigation support and systematic training in good agriculture practices enabled farmers to increase the quantity and quality of their rice, significantly increasing their income from rice growing. Farmers were assisted in gaining access to mechanization, quality seeds, post-harvest storage, as well as rice milling facilities, all of which help to enable profitable rice growing in the region. The project has established a community-owned rice enterprise and its own rice brand —Kenya Superior Rice (superiorrice.org).
We are now focused on organizational and technical capacity building, supporting farmers to acquire the knowledge, skills and organizational capability to manage the rice value chain, thereby greatly improving the prosperity of rice farmers in Western Kenya.
Purchasing good quality seeds and agri-chemicals is expensive, so we are laying out for those inputs. The cost will be recovered from the sale of the crops.
A good part of the value of rice is in the milling. We have therefore arranged for the rice to be milled by the National Irrigation Board (NIB) to increase the value of sale. The rice will be kept in storage at NIB so it can be sold at superior prices.
We want to ensure that farmers receive the maximum income from their rice growing. We are therefore assisting with securing attractive buyers for rice.
Skills are highly valuable to properly use the farming inputs. Farmers will receive training and support throughout the process in the correct use of fertilizers and pesticides to ensure high quality results are achieved.
Tag is investing in refurbishment and maintenance of the weir at the Nyando river to ensure reliable water supply for the local rice schemes. This will enable farmers to grow two rice crops per year, dramatically increasing income from rice growing.
Farmers will receive carefully selected rice seed varieties, fertilisers, and pesticides to achieve the maximum potential. Farmers will be supplied with planting fertiliser, fungicides, follar feed and insecticides – to ensure a high yield. We expect that farmers will produce 30 kilos or more per acre – an increase of around 50%.
