Farmers embrace indigenous crops to combat food insecurity

Salome Mukanda hums a rendition of a popular gospel song as she oversees workers harvesting pumpkins at her farm in Mang’etele Village,  Makueni County. Although it is barely a year since the principal of Mukanda Secondary School in the neighbourhood defeated an acute bout of Covid-19, the smile she wears after seeing the early signs of a bumper pumpkin harvest hides the remaining scars of the scourge that saw her spend six months on life support machines at a Nairobi hospital. It is this setback that inspired the pumpkin venture.

 Ms Mukanda embraced pumpkin farming after medics pointed out the medical value of the seeds. “My doctor advised me to take pumpkin seeds regularly to restore zinc in my blood. However, the price of pumpkins was a challenge. I almost gave up when a trader sold me a piece of pumpkin at Sh350. I resolved to grow my pumpkins so I could meet the demand for pumpkin seeds,” she tells Healthy Nation.

She also farms other crops and keeps animals, but it is the flourishing pumpkin crop sitting on two acres which is closest to her heart.  The mother of two believes that teachers have a big role to play in addressing food security by inspiring rural farming communities towards embracing climate-smart agriculture. Yet she had no idea she was unlocking a huge fortune when she ventured into pumpkins. She settled for a plot teeming with young pixies to minimise the use of water and farm yard manure. “The initial plan was to reduce the demand of water in the orchard we had just established by introducing a versatile cover crop and intensive mulching. We ended up reaping the many benefits of cover crops-moisture conservation and a whole new revenue stream. We are eyeing at least Sh150,000 from the sale of our first yield.”

 Known scientifically as Curcubita maxima, agronomists say that pumpkins take five to seven months to mature.

 Ms Mukanda planted hers at the height of the dry spell in August last year after acquiring the seeds from a relative. For around three months, she sustained the delicate crop through irrigation and a generous application of farm yard manure. The watering reduced significantly as the pumpkins spread out and stopped when the rainy season started. A major threat in the production of pumpkins is fruit flies. To keep the pests at bay, Ms Mukanda has installed pheromone traps.

“One acre requires four traps,” she says, citing agronomists. The result has been well-rounded fruits that are a source of envy in the neighbourhood.

Nicholas Musomba, a local trader who buys pumpkins and mangoes in bulk for sale in Kitengela in the neighbouring Kajiado County; has seen a comeback of pumpkin production in the region bordering Chyulu Hills and Tsavo West National Parks.

 “The fencing off of the Chyulu Hills and Tsavo West national parks has spurred the production of pumpkins and edible gourds since it has solved the human-wildlife conflict. Smallholder farmers grow the fruits at the onset of the short rainy season. They mature in May,” Mr Musomba said. This is what has given Ms Mukanda a competitive edge. She markets the product through referrals. The bulk of the customers are individual customers who come for the fruits on the farmland. They are rich in carbohydrates and vitamins. 

She also targets high-end restaurants in Mtito Andei,  which serve pumpkin soup as appetisers. Ms Mukanda has observed a growing demand for pumpkin seeds.

 Agronomists attribute the spike in the production of pumpkins in Makueni County to ongoing aggressive campaigns on the uptake of indigenous foods by government agencies and non-governmental organisations, which place cover crops at the centre of sustainable measures of adapting to climate change by restoring soil health. According to experts on climate-smart agriculture, gourds, pumpkins, watermelons and sweet potatoes are among the high-value cover crops whose use is known to sustainably boost the yields of farmlands, especially in dry lands. They supplement mulching, deep tillage and terracing in soil and water conservation.

“Healthy soil contains living organisms, which enable it to support crops. Mulching and cover crops suffocate weeds. This reduces soil disturbance by making conventional weeding unnecessary and therefore guarantees soil health. These simple technologies also conserve soil moisture while significantly reducing soil erosion,” Alex Musyoka, a senior agronomist at Utooni Development Organization, told smallholder farmers during a recent field day organised by the organization in Kitonyoni Village  to promote the uptake of bankable climate-smart farming practices tailored to build the resilience of smallholder farmers to drought caused by climate change. 

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