- He is among the few farmers who abandoned tobacco to venture into full-time food crop production.
- After learning new farming skills, Okong’o and his family could now reap big from their sweat.
Image: KNA
At Michael Okong’o's rural home in Gogo, Uriri subcounty of Migori, healthy green crops are all one sees around.
They are a complete contrast to the poor climatic conditions of the area, with most land surrounded by rock boulders.
Okong’o’s home sits on the boundary between Uriri and Nyatike subcounties, an area classified as arid and semi-arid land.
The area hardly receives enough annual rainfall.
Nevertheless, Okong’o narrates that his determination to grow food crops made him do all that it takes. And the result is green farms of vegetables and maize.
“This area is very hot and as you can see three quarters of my farmland is rocky. But I am doing what I always wanted,” says Okong’o, 45, as he inspects his vegetable crop.
He is among the few farmers who abandoned tobacco to venture into full-time food crop production, after growing the plant for several years.
This was due to the low profits from tobacco sales despite high cost of production and health hazards that the crop exposes farmers to.
Having given up on tobacco farming, Okong’o narrates how he contemplated on whether he should venture into sugar cane farming. He was fully aware of the challenges that cane growers face when demanding for payment from the sugar millers.
“After quitting tobacco growing, I almost ventured into cane growing. But I changed my mind because I had heard lots of complaints from growers on delayed payments,” he explains.
Bordering Nyatike, a semi-arid area, growing food crops in Gogo area proved to be an uphill task as the rains are unpredictable.
But when Ripple Effect, a non-government organization (formerly Send a Cow SAC), came to Migori county to train farmers on new farming methods, Okong’o embraced the idea.
He says the organisation’s idea was timely and coincided with his desires. “When the SAC came, few people were reluctant to join. For me I wanted to know how to farm here on my land and that is what they provided,” he says.
Since then, the organisation has been sensitising farmers in Migori on the importance of adopting new farming technologies.
Apart from maximising yields, the organisation advocates for healthy farming free from using agro-chemicals and fertilisers, or organic farming.
After learning the new farming skills, Okong’o and his family could now reap big from their sweat.
“Through trainings, I decided to practice the ideas here in my home since I had no other land,” Okong’o says.
"It takes more than training alone, as most of the work I do myself like organising my farm and planting”.
Okong’o’s one acre farm has 20 different crops that include fruits and vegetables besides poultry, goats and cows.
He says using scientific methods such as keyhole, aerial, trench and Mandala gardening is the reason he has managed to have a lot of crops in a limited space of land
In addition, the gardening techniques conserve crop water and moisture usage, increase crop production and utilise better plant nutrients. He has managed to dig a pond for harvesting rain water to help in watering crops.
The farmer says he uses organic manure obtained from his composite pit, liquid organic manure for top dressing and the “Plant Tea” that acts both as pesticide and insecticide.
Okong’o says that organic farming has enabled him to reduce the expenses he previously incurred when purchasing inorganic fertiliser and pesticides from shops.
“I make liquid manure by putting fresh cow dung in a bucket with fresh water to liquefy for 14 days in order to produce the necessary nitrogen for crop top dressing,” Okong’o explains.
“I also use Plant Tea pesticide, which is made from a concoction of different plant and vegetable leaves mixed with water for a period of 10 days”.
The reason for using different plant and vegetable leaves is to control all rodents and destructive insects.
Being a member of a farmers’ group has sharpened his skills in crop and animal husbandry and economically from the services and grants that groups get from NGO partners and the county government.
From the sale of crops and vegetables, Okong’o’s family has bought goats, chickens and even saved some money for paying school fees.
His wife Rosemary Akinyi states that they nowadays enjoy peace in their home as small quarrels about family expenditures on food and other basic things are a thing in the past
“Before, we could not eat tobacco with my family, we had to sell it first. But as of today, we eat these crops here before selling,” she narrates as she cuts down a banana tree.
They also advise those still adamant on tobacco growing to think on growing food crops, which they can as well eat.
Edited by Henry Makori