Baringo eyes aloe vera in bid to beautify life and grow tidy cash

Farmers in the arid and semi-arid Baringo County are upbeat as the devolved unit turns to the once-vibrant aloe vera in a bid to commercialise it.

Growers are targeting to reap from the alternative source of livelihood in the green plant whose sap is used to make beauty products and medicine.

On a fact finding mission with the National Museums of Kenya led by Dr Evans Taracha, chief research officer and a consultant from Aga Khan Foundation Kazim Mitha, Baringo deputy governor Jacob Chepkwony said the project would go a long way in boosting economic livelihood of locals.

“Aloe farming will be a profitable enterprise as the plant also grows naturally in most arid regions. The county government will facilitate and support aloe vera farmers to be able to revive the industry since the medicinal plant has emerged to be an alternative cash crop,” said Prof Chepkwony.

The national government through National Museums of Kenya under the Natural Products Initiative (NPI) seeks to support communities protect indigenous plants that have economic, cultural and medicinal value by supporting production carried out by active formal groups.

According to Dr Taracha, Baringo has a huge potential of production since its soils favour growth of organic aloe vera and can yield up to 6,000 kilogrammes per acre of either sap or gel which translates to Sh1.8 million if sold at Shs30 per kilogramme.

Beauty products

He said health and beauty products with natural ingredients particularly aloe and avocado are sought by European consumers.

An aloe factory located at Koriema in Baringo County, a one of its kind in East Africa and the second in Africa after one in South Africa, stalled in 2014 due to what is claimed to be poor market prices.

The aloe-bio-enterprise dubbed Baringo Aloe Bio-Enterprise (BABE), which had spread to every location in the county, started in 2004 with funding from the European Union. First to be constructed was the Koriema nursery and a factory.

Started in 2004 with the a grant of Sh10.5 million from the European Union, the community saw it as a game changer in alleviating poverty in a region where the plant thrives despite harsh weather.

The EU, through its Community Development Trust Fund (CDTF) had given grants for the sustenance of the project which had a membership of 1,547 people drawn from various parts of Kerio Valley.

In 2009, the group was issued with an operation permit by the Kenya Wildlife Service, which has jurisdiction over the aloe plant. Thereafter, there was signing of a deal between KWS and the county council of Baringo on the processing and marketing of aloe products.

It is not yet clear why the project collapsed but poor pricing might have played a major role as it discouraged many farmers from investing in the crop. The project was also to bring aboard 11 districts (currently counties) in arid areas of the country and had the potential of extracting more than 50 tonnes of aloe gum annually.

Residents used to make extra coin as flowers from the plant produce seeds which they used to sell at Sh1,000 per kilogramme.

High economic value

 Despite fears on revival that the aloe produced in the area was not enough to support the venture, farmers are now rushing to domesticate it because of its high economic value.

Aloe’s juice is boiled leaving a dry substance that is used to make soap and other products. The price of aloe sap has increased from Sh35 to Sh50 per litre.

Aloe leaves are ground into a pulp and boiled leaving dry exudates which are used to make bathing soap and shampoo among other products.

During a visit to the factory recently, Chin Pac, an investor from China said there is a high demand of aloe sap to cater for more than 1.4 billion populations.

He encouraged farmers to commercialise the planting of aloe just as tea, coffee or pyrethrum since the demand is high.

Chin said there are a variety of aloe species and hinted that a research centre would be established to provide farmers with the right knowledge of species to be planted for commercial purposes.

“A nursery for aloe will also be established for farmers to get seedlings with ease,” said Mr Chin.

Two products from aloe can be used commercially in the manufacture of medicinal and cosmetic preparations.

Tolerates drought

One is the gel from the pith of the leaf, and the other is the exudate from longitudinal vessels situated at the outer sides of the vascular bundles of the leaves.

The plant can grow in poor soils and tolerates drought, making it invaluable in rangelands.

Although farmers are banned from harvesting wild aloe under a 1986 presidential decree, increasing commercial value has exposed the species to over-exploitation and Kenya wildlife service warden has encouraged farmers to plant aloe as they put checks on regulations to avoid over exploitation of wild aloe.

Farmers led by Andrew Rumenya and levy Kibor of Koriema where the factory is being revived are now upbeat that this time round they will fetch good prices and have now started increasing acreage under aloe.

Mr Rumenya is optimistic that as many area residents value the need to diversify from livestock rearing to other economic activities, the business will tremendously expand and help transform lives in the pastoralist community.

“The plant can change lives amongst the pastoralist communities if the market is streamlined to guarantee farmers that the crop will benefit them,” said Mr Rumenya.

Among the indigenous aloe species found in Kerio valley are aloe, turkanensis, aloe secundiflora, aloe calidophila, and aloe rivae and aloe scabrifolia.

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