FOCUS ON CASSAVA
  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • What We Do
  • Programs
  • Contacts
  • News
MICHAEL CASSAVA
October 16, 2014

Daily Nation Feature: Idea Turns Village Into Cassava Hub

FocusWise Press 0

Story By Eunice Kilonzo

Most farms in the larger Murang’a County teem with bananas, potatoes and tomatoes.

These crops are grown widely because there is ready market in Nairobi, Nyeri and Kiambu.

But in Muthithi, a location in the county, things are different. Here, many farmers have given the three crops a wide berth.

Acres upon acres of cassava resplendent in their green canopy colours this sprawling village in the Yatta Plateau, which receives minimum rainfall.

“It started just as an idea but now it is growing into an industry,” Michael Murigi, 24, the brainchild behind this change, told Seeds of Gold in his farm this week.

Having seen his parents and other villagers grow different crops with little success, Murigi, a Master of Economics student at the University of Nairobi, swore to change things.

“I had learned at the university that cassava is a drought-resistant crop, and I realised that this is what we needed in Muthithi.”

But there was a problem, Murigi did not know where to get quality seeds and how to go about making farmers embrace the crop.

“In 2010 while at second year, I approached PathWays, an organisation which, at the time was paying my fees in campus, to assist with the cassava project. They liked my idea and leased two acres for Sh10,000 a year for me to grow the crop,” says Murigi.

It is these two acres that would become the source of the cuttings and a spring of hope to this sleepy village.

The farmer knew he could not go alone in the project and succeed. He reached out to his friends and together they formed Focus Wise Self Help Group.

“We were 15 members. Each one of us contributed Sh1,000 which we used to buy improved cassava variety nodes from Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (Kari).”

“After getting the cuttings, we cut them into three parts and planted a metre apart horizontally,” he adds.

Michael Murigi with cassava harvested from their farm in Murang’a. PHOTO | JENNIFER MUIRURI NATION MEDIA GROUP
Read the full story on Daily Nation's website
May 4, 2020

iNooro TV Feature (Video): Cassava Farming on Another Level

FocusWise Press 0

RAchel
April 16, 2020

Farmers Training Program

FocusWise Programs 0

Cassava processing unit 2
April 16, 2020

Cassava Processing Unit

FocusWise Programs 0

slide1
April 16, 2020

Cassava Demo Farm / Seed Multiplication Plot

FocusWise Programs 2

ph_8354_27395
October 24, 2019

Farmers’ Outreach Activities

FocusWise Farming, Programs 0

Round the year, we distribute improved cassava seeds to farming communities across Kenya and beyond. We have so far hosted 29,711 farmers for training at our demo farm since we set it up. We attend agricultural shows and field days to sensitize and educate new farmers about the benefits of improved cassava farming. We have also hosted crop breeders and agronomists for research work at the farm in Murang’a.

slide3
May 25, 2019

Improved Cassava for Youth in Eastern and Northern Kenya

FocusWise Farming, Programs 0

In collaboration with Comic Relief, a British charity, FocusWise will support 300 youthful farmers to start the farming of improved cassava for food security and poverty alleviation. The targeted areas are some of the driest and most drought- ravaged in Kenya. The beneficiaries will receive improved cassava seeds and training on cassava husbandry from FocusWise. The farmers will also supply their excess cassava produce to FocusWise’s cassava processing plant and earmarked fresh produce traders.

Latest Updates

  • iNooro TV Feature (Video): Cassava Farming on Another Level
  • Farmers Training Program
  • Cassava Processing Unit
  • Cassava Demo Farm / Seed Multiplication Plot
  • Farmers’ Outreach Activities

Featured on iNooro TV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PqHpCeDNIA
FOCUS ON CASSAVA
FocusWise is a Kenyan registered community based organization involved in the promotion of improved varieties of cassava to fight hunger and poverty in vulnerable communities.

Designed by SWS. All Rights Reserved.

Programs

  • RAchelFarmers Training Program
  • Cassava processing unit 2Cassava Processing Unit
  • slide1Cassava Demo Farm / Seed Multiplication Plot

GET IN TOUCH

P. O. BOX 290 – 10208,
Sabasaba, Kenya.
Tel: +254725284685

Read Our Story on Daily Nation