By John Mutisya
Farmers from four wards of Makueni County (Ukia, Kee, Wote-Nziu and Kiima Kiu wards) have been practising regenerative agriculture for two years. Though the venture has been laborious, involving establishing water harvesting structures, preparing bio-fertilizers, and integrating agroforestry/livestock, farmers have worked tirelessly to reap the benefits.
Regenerative agriculture focuses more on resilient activities that promote soil health, biodiversity, animal integration and environmental conservation to create a sustainable food flow system for improved livelihoods. Farmers in this space, under close guidance of the field staff from Makueni, have now started realizing better yields and more diverse products from their farms, which now calls for a sustainable market.
For many years, farmers have suffered in the hands of brokers (middlemen) who buy their farm produce at very low prices. They also experience huge post-harvest losses due to a lack of a good market since most of the farm produce is highly perishable, and any delays to markets lead to huge losses. This is worsened by high transport costs from the farm to distant markets.
Intervention
Due to this suffering, the Enviu and Biovision Africa Trust team came up with the idea of establishing a village market. This idea of a village market was born in July 2024 with farmers in the regenerative agriculture space welcoming it and gathering their farm products in readiness for the day. Prior and proper awareness was created to the public through posters, letters, and through social media platforms. The village market was also mentioned in public forums like barazas and other community gatherings. The village market took place at Alex Sombas’ farm.
It was specially arranged with prices for the products determined by market forces with buyers interacting freely with sellers. Regenerative farm products ranging from traditional root tubers/crops, pumpkins,thorn melons, indigenous cereals, fruits, and vegetables were marketed. Though it was a first of its kind, more than 200 buyers and sellers assembled and more than 75 % of the farm products were purchased. Farmers turned sellers went home with heavy pockets with customers carrying healthy and nutritious products from regenerative farms.
Benefits of village market
- Products are sold promptly.
- Reduced costs since products are sold at doorsteps.
- Farmers are aware of what they are buying since they know the farms where the products have been harvested.
- Availability of assorted products for the community to make their choices.
- Possibility of increased adoption motivated by the availability of the local market.
- The community has started enjoying improved nutrition from within.
Lessons learnt
- The idea, if implemented consistently, will create more awareness and widen the market.
- It will also net more interested community members who want to join regenerative agriculture farming.
