Fredrick Gitau has fond memories of small-scale farming from his childhood. He and his seven siblings were educated through proceeds from the sale of tomatoes.
His family used to earn some money every three months. His father was a well-known tomato farmer in Subukia, Nakuru county, and his family earned tomato money every three months in the1980s.
It was natural for Gitau to want to grow tomatoes and dream of being as successful as his father.
“Tomatoes were among my first crops when I began farming,” he told the Star. But despite trying and trying, his high hopes were dashed. He abandoned and crop.
“Tuta absoluta, the tomato leaf miner invested my crop and I didn’t have knowledge regarding the pest. It wreaked havoc and destroyed my crop.
Gitau’s wife, Gladys Wangui, remembers. “If Tuta attacks your tomatoes, you will be finished. There’s nothing you’d harvest," she says.
The couple incurred significant losses in 2019 was a complete crop failure. They never imagined at the time there could be solutions other than chemical spraying.
Gitau laments that his inputs went down the drain. “The following year I didn’t grow tomatoes,” he says. “I switched to cabbages but the prices were low. Earnings were poor.”
The following season, learning how to combat Tuta Absoluta, he again planted tomatoes. Another adversity struck when drought set in. “Tomatoes require a lot of water. If they lack water for a week, they wither. Reviving them is a daunting task.”
“I dropped tomatoes and returned to cabbages,” he said. The difference in farm inputs for the two crops caught his eye. “For tomatoes, it’s higher: seeds, pesticides and labour.”
Gitau hasn’t forgotten how well-paying tomatoes can be. "I know how to grow them in a greenhouse,” he said, but I lack resources to do it. If you have a greenhouse, whether or not there’s El Nino, you’ll go on.”
Meantime, Gitau’s family has started mixed farming. Their one-and-a-half-acre grows a variety of sweet potatoes — yellow, white and pink-fleshed for human consumption, and another kind for animal feed — dot the land. Other crops are Irish potatoes, French beans, maize and beans.
Pyrethrum, which is slowly creeping back to the region, also has some space here. The Gitaus practice crop rotation.
Gitau often works side by side with his wife, Wangui, on their farm in the Milimani area. They have recently been transplanting sweet potato twigs.
“I have been growing these varieties to gauge which one is the best for my soils,” says the father of five. “I used to grow the ordinary one that was characteristic of this area.”
The family has already harvested the yellow-fleshed potatoes once and consumed them. Gitau believes says they are sweeter than the traditional ones.
The varieties mature within three months. Every twig of the sweet potatoes produces three or four tubers. “Some are quite big,” Gitau said.
He hopes to multiply seeds and supply it to other farmers in Subukia and beyond for propagation.
At the moment, the Gitaus have their Gloria cabbage variety in a seedbed awaiting transplanting. One seed sachet of 50 grams costs Sh3,800.
“I grow only this kind,” Gitau said. It doesn’t get damaged even in torrential rains. Secondly, it remains fresh for several days after harvesting. For every sachet of Gloria seed, he earns Sh7,000 to Sh8,000.
“I sometimes buy the seedlings from farmers that grow them in greenhouses,” he said. “It costs Sh2.10 per seedling. So if I buy 10,000, it would cost me a lot.”
“I grow French beans in stages,” he said. “When harvesting one batch, I would be growing others in other areas, including on hired farms.”
This family always reserves half an acre for the French beans. A seed company, Frigoken Limited, contracted the Gitaus to multiply the seed. The company provides them with the seed. One 250gm packet of French beans produces 150kg The family is paid per harvest.
While the Gitaus were reeling from the effects of Tuta Absoluta, a solution was being sought. Agricultural authorities, research and non-governmental institutions have urgently been trying to mitigate the destruction caused by the pest.
The adult female moth lays eggs on the leaves of tomato crops. The eggs hatch into larvae. The leaves are chewed through. The larvae also feed on the fruit, causing extensive damage.
Chemical pesticides, if improperly used, pose environmental and health risks to both farmers and consumers.
The Ukulima True is a campaign implemented by the Nakuru county government, in Partnership with the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) and the Centre for Behaviour Change and the Communication Centre (CBCC).
The campaign was being implemented in Subukia subcounty from May to December 2023. Seeking to reduce the risk of pesticides to stakeholders in the food value chain was at the aim of the initiative.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approaches have been deployed on many farms in Subukia. These are a combination of cultural, biological and chemical control methods.
One of the most effective strategies is the use of pheromone traps. These traps emit synthetic chemicals that mimic the sex pheromones of the tomato leaf miner, attracting and trapping the male insects. The number of male insects is reduced. The breeding cycle of the pest is therefore disrupted.
When the Gitaus’ tomato cultivation resulted in total crop failure, they didn't know how to biologically control the proliferation of the pest. "Now we do," Gitau said. His wife added, "If we were to resume tomato farming, we'd manage to combat the challenge."
CBCC technical director Dr Catherine Lengewa, said, “We came up with a social and behaviour change strategy on addressing the unsafe use of pesticides.”
She said the Ukulima True campaign aims at “encouraging others to be true farmers — conscious about the safety to themselves, the consumers, the soils and the environment of the products and the chemicals they use.”
Apart from farmers, agro-dealers, extension officers, policymakers and the community were targeted by the project.
“It’s the right for the consumer to get safe food,” said monitoring and evaluation officer at CBCC Rodgers Kinoti.
After applying pesticides, some farmers would discharge the excess on surfaces. Furthermore, he said, “Disposal of pesticide containers after spraying wasn't being done properly while farm re-entry wasn’t as it should be,” Kinoti said.
Michael Kahiro is a retired veterinary officer. For fungal or bacterial diseases in crops and ticks, fleas and other ectoparasites in animals, he said, “We have to use the right chemical for the right crop or animal.”
Another strategy has been working with lead farmers, who carry out peer-to-peer education within their groups.
“We had a total of more than 30 lead farmers who had more than 30 group members each,” CBCC Managing Director, Peter Lengewa said. The project targeted 1,000 farmers and this figure was surpassed.
Lengewa, said there have been misconceptions about using some pesticides safely. "In behaviour change, we look at three key aspects; knowledge, attitude and practices," he says.
There have been cases in which some farmers duplicate crops and practice different pest control on the different portions. Crops for the market may be sold without observing the pre-harvest interval (PHI).
“Farmers are now saying we want to make the entire farm the same,” Lengewa said. “Safety is safety.”
If the biological traps were 80-90 per cent effective, then the chemical spray required would be minimal. The Ukulima True project has been advocating training of young male spray service providers (SSPs). These SSPs are aged not more than 35, and wearing their Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), they would be called upon to spray a farmer’s crops.
The battle against pests in the tomato fields of Subukia has driven some farmers into retreat. But now with more than 1,000 farmers armed with the IPM strategy it’s hoped that the tide will swing in their favour to ensure sustainable tomato farming.
Farmers are being encouraged to conduct regular monitoring and scouting of their tomato and other crop fields. This is crucial for early detection of pests. Proper remedial control measures would then be applied.
The Tuta Absoluta pest is no longer the dreaded menace was in the past. “I would like to resume the cultivation of tomatoes,” Gitau says. “They grow fast and have a market.”
