Amaranth Boom

BY JECKONIA OTIENO
Amaranth Boom Grain amaranth has for a long time been seen and treated as a weed in Nyanza and Western provinces. The weed which is referred to as ododo in the local language in Nyanza has occasionally been used as vegetable.

This situation is however changing with residents of Umala in South-East Alego cultivating it for its highly nutritious seeds hitherto unknown to them. A community based organisation is investing in the crop in order to improve its members’ livelihood as well as supply its flour throughout Nyanza Province and the country as a whole. Usula Wege CBO has decided to plant, harvest, mill and package the crop.

Under the Ministry of Agriculture’s Njaa Marufuku Programme, the crop which has long been viewed as a menace due to its speedy propagation especially during the rainy seasons has become a cash crop for residents of this village. It has become an alternative for staple foods such as maize, beans, sweet potatoes and cassava which rarely do well due to poor agricultural practices and adverse weather conditions.

Syprose Atieno, the chairperson of Usula Wege, was among the first to take to fully planting the crop for commercial purposes. She notes that while others adopted a wait-and-see attitude, she decided to try the crop and see what it would offer. 43 other small scale farmers cultivated it too. These farmers managed to harvest up to three tons of the crop most of which did not offer much returns. It had to be taken to Nairobi to be sold since there was ready market within the county.

‘Initially we did not reap much since people did not see its importance and prices were low,’ Atieno notes.

She says matters were not made easier by the fact that the organization did not have any means to process the crop and the voice of critics was growing louder by the day. However this has changed. The Ministry of Agriculture has bought and installed a posho mill in Umala shopping centre. This is the only mill of its kind in the entire Siaya County with the nearest one being in Kakamega County.

The posho mill which will grind the grains before the flour is packaged will make work easier for farmers since they won’t have to travel far to search for market for the crop. It will also process produce from other parts of the county. The group does not still have a packaging machine; therefore members will be forced to engage manual labour.

Currently, more than 230 farmers have their farms under the cover of amaranth in Umala alone. This is after word locals realised that they had been sitting on gold. The crop is multipurpose in terms of products associated with it. Atieno says its flour can be used to prepare a variety of food like porridge, buns, pancakes, biscuits and other confectionery products.

‘Locals of four locations around here got a taste of it during a recent display by the group on various ways it can be prepared for consumption,’ she says. The chairperson’s words are echoed by Mr Ken Owuor who is an agricultural extension officer in Karemo Division. He says the Njaa Marufuku component targets to change people’s perception that only staple foods such as maize should be planted.

Owuor states that this crop is recommended for patients who are managing various ailments especially HIV/AIDS due to its wholesome nature. Owuor notes, ‘Perception is now changing as you can see more and more farms under amaranth; partly this can be attributed to the fact that it is an immunity booster.’ He claims at the onset it was quite difficult to persuade people to invest in the crop which takes only two and a half months to mature. Amaranth does not require intensive labour since it is a free growing crop which tends to choke weeds.

Yuanita Aluoch Oluma of Nyasere Women’s Group has planted the crop in half of her two acre plot of land. She agrees that due to its quick maturity she opted to try it and see if she could earn a bit more than what she gets from her meager annual maize harvest. During a recent visit by the agricultural officer to teach farmers on how to manage the crop and ensure maximum returns, most farmers in the meeting at Umala chief’s camp had many questions not only on how commercial forces will pan out but also how to ensure a steady market; yet they had hopes on the crop changing their lives. Most of them still had scanty knowledge on how to harvest and dry the grains due to the tiny nature of the seed. Owuor urged the farmers to be vigilant and work as a team to avoid exploitation. He informed the farmers on multiplicity of benefits by the crop adding that being a vegetable; it can be used as a supplement to the commonly preferred sukuma wiki and cow peas. Another challenge still facing the farmers is lack of proper storage facilities which makes the crop rot leading to wastage and poor returns. They also foresee a situation whereby some unscrupulous businessmen will seek to gain much from the crop while giving minimum returns to the farmers. Farmers also decried the poor state of the feeder roads which are impassable during the rainy season. Despite all these challenges, the people of Umala, even Siaya as a whole, are taking a break from the usual maize meal which seems to have survived the test of time.