• He got 2,000 bags each at Sh5 and employed farmhands to fill them up with soil, which he got from construction sites.
• He says he now earns close to Sh40,000 a week from his vegetables.
When Berry Odindo received his share of the family land, he was taken aback after he realised it was a rocky patch on a hill.
He received his share of inheritance after the family land was subdivided.
In 2020, Odindo, 32, lost his job at Amref and was forced to go back home to Ranen area in Migori town so he could take care of his young family.
“I came home to ponder my next financial move. I said I wanted to farm on my parcel that is rocky,” Odindo said.
He said after doing research, he realised Migori traders got their vegetables from other counties, especially in Kisii county. He grabbed the opportunity and started growing vegetables.
“Because the land could not hold any vegetables because it is hilly and rocky, I started looking for cement sacks, especially from construction sites along the Kisii-Migori road,” he said.
He managed to get 2,000 bags each at Sh5. Odindo employed farmhands to fill them up with soil, which he got from construction sites.
“It took me two months to get enough cement bags because Covid lockdowns delayed a lot of construction sites,” he said.
He said he uses organic manure to grow his vegetables, but he sometimes buys fertiliser to boost soil productivity.
"I always make seedbeds and nurseries, especially during the dry season, and transplant them at the onset of the rain."
“I started around August in 2020 and by December I started selling African indigenous vegetables, popularly known as kienyeji, and kales. I made Sh50,000 from my first harvest,” he said.
“Once you start harvesting, then you are assured of between Sh5,000 and Sh7,000 daily. Hotels buy per kilo. This has really boosted my morale. I now earn close to Sh40,000 a week from my one acre piece.”
He said the main challenge of working on a rocky patch of land is getting water and weeding the crops.
“Rocky patches never hold water. To counter this, I often use drip irrigation from a nearby stream during the drought, which is when vegetables are most expensive,” Odindo said.
He said he plans to build water pans using cement to collect surface run-off.
Odindo said he also has a challenge getting quality seeds of indigenous vegetables.
African indigenous vegetables are making a comeback in East Africa, after being shunned for many years.
Ruth Githiga and Emma Oketch, two PhD students, outline the re-emergence of local vegetables in their “Policy Brief: Closing the productivity gap in African indigenous vegetable value chain by embedding gender”.
The research shows that indigenous vegetables such as amaranth, spider plant, African nightshade, pumpkins or cow pea leaves can help fight malnutrition.
Edited by A.N