Crowning of Agriculture Enthusiasts during the National Farmers Award

By Mary Mwende Mbith

In a recently held Farmers’ Awards Gala Dinner at a Nairobi, individual farmers as well as companies were among the awardees of the day.

The event was presided over by the Principal Secretary, State Department of Crop Development, Phillip Harsama, on behalf of the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi, together with the PS state department of Livestock - Harry Kimtai and Elgon’s Managing Director Dr. Bimal Kantaria The event, formerly known as Presidential Farmers competition Scheme was launched in 2013 as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the Ministry of Agriculture and Elgon Kenya Limited. As a part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), from the Elgon Kenya Group, the event is held annually. This year was a re-launch three years absence due to covid-19 pandemic. The core purpose of the event is to recognize the agricultural champions including the youth, women and the physically challenged people in the agriculture sector as well as flower farms with outstanding performance.

According to Dr. Bimal, the sponsors of the event were not part of the judging committee and thus assured the farmers and growers of a credible and thorough exercise purely based on merit where the government through a committee hand-picked winners after a keen scrutiny. Other companies that partnered with Elgon Kenya to make the event a success were; Bayer E.A, Excel Crop, FMC, Arista Life Sciences, UPL and BASF.

In a speech read by PS Harsama on behalf of the CS Agriculture, he pointed out the Public Private Partnership model as a proof that the private sector could actually apportion resources and join forces with the state towards a common goal.

“Promotion of agribusiness is a top priority for the government and I am glad this partnership is anchored on the major goal which is to promote agribusiness and encourage participation and adoption of commercial farming as a choice career,” read the speech. He went on to extol the event organizers on addition of extra categories in the event from the inceptive three, which laid emphasis on soil conservation and farm management to the agro-dealers and SMEs.

“For instance, the inclusion of the agro-dealer category recognizes the important role they play in the supply of agricultural inputs and the complementary role of advising farmers on good agricultural practices,” read PS Harsama. He also lauded Dr. Bimal Kantaria-Managing Director, Elgon Kenya Limited for his notable presence and efforts specifically in the agriculture sector.

Dr. Bimal on the other hand, announced that Elgon Kenya-currently blending NPK fertilizer for tea, coffee and horticulture, had gotten into a partnership with the University of Nairobi to put up an agricultural innovation and technology hub at Kabete in memory of his late father. Additionally, he said that Elgon Kenya had also introduced an internship programme project whereby the company was going to hire twenty interns from the University of Nairobi for a period of six months, on a monthly stipend.

In an acknowledgement statement Professor Stephen Kiama, Vice Chancellor, University of Nairobi (UoN), said, “Agriculture has not taken off as it should because there are so many technologies but no system of how farmers can adopt them. The UoN has now teamed up with Elgon Kenya to implement the idea.”

The categories for the farmers’ awards were as follows; The first category was Floriculture farms with more than thirty hectares of land, the second was flower farms with less than thirty hectares of land, then the special category, Women in Agriculture, Youth in Agriculture and the final one was the physically challenged person in Agriculture category. The winners received Trophies, Certificates and Vouchers.

The categories as mentioned above saw many individuals and organizations get noticed and awarded based on merit. The category of Women in Agriculture had Ms. Beth Wairimu Kinuthia of Kenbet Farm in Oljororok in Nyandarua County awarded. Ms.Esther Muthoni Kahuho of Joes Farm in Kasarani, Nairobi came in second as the third position went to Ms. Prisca Jelagat Keter of Lutiet Farm in Soy, Uasin Gishu county. The Youth in Agriculture category crowned Ms. Caroline Mukuhi Mwangi of Kimplanter Seedlings and Nurseries from Ruiru in Kiambu County as the winner. Lisper Kanana Muchiri from Kirinyaga County held the second position while the third position was taken by Mr. Reuben Kamuru Mwangi of Kamuru Farm in Kieni East, Nyeri County.

Mr.Jonathan keter from Kiminini in Trans-Nzoia county led in the Physically Challenged category. In the same category, the second position went to Mr. James Oyoo Ochieng of James Oyoo’s Farm in Nyando, Kisumu County. Mr. Daniel Meiteken Kimangat from Transmara west in Narok county came in third.

Re-Launch of 4-K Clubs To crown the event was the launch of a new category- ‘The 4-K Club’ which targets over 800 schools countrywide. This was like a revamp of the 4-K Club considering the fact that it has been in existence since time immemorial though its uptake and adoption have been slow over the years.

Speaking during the event PS Harry Kimtai said, “The average age of a Kenyan Farmer is 59-60 years. Therefore there is a need to bring in the youth into farming and encouraging them to embrace agriculture thus the re-launch of 4-K clubs.”

The prizes for winners of the 4-K Club winners were also unveiled and included; a shield for top three patrons, Gold, Silver and Bronze medals for club members of top three clubs and trophies for the first and second leading 4-K Clubs. The last one was a trip to Nairobi for the winning club not limited to the head teacher, patrons and members.

Currently, Elgon Kenya awards 4K Club winners on a monthly basis. The winner for the month of January 2023 was Mr. Samuel Nyaga, Headteacher at Joseph Kang’ethe Primary School in Kibera. Conclusively, PS Harsama said the distribution of subsidized fertilizer had already kicked-off in 12 counties in the North and South Rift as well as in Western Kenya. “The government is giving fertilizer at the cost of Kshs. 3500,” he said. “Initially, the maximum fertilizer bags one could get was 50 bags, but now we are giving you as many as 5000- 6000 depending on the size of your land,” he added.