Do You Know The Food You Eat Can Bring Health or Sickness?

Food can bring health or sickness depending on your eating habits. Inadequate helping and  wrong food mixtures leads to malnutrition. Good nutrition is not optional but a basic human need and a fundamental human right. Therefore it’s essential for all people individually and collectively to care for their nutrition. Global Food and nutrition security for the 9 billion by 2050 is the goal of all the world’s nations including Kenya. According to  surveys carried out by the Ministry of public health Kenya 70% of children less than 5years of age are found to have vitamin A deficiency, 55% of women and 47% of men have inadequate blood. These results are indicators of poor family nutrition.

Why should you eat? It’s important to feed for right reasons which include:-

1. Body building in growing children and young people
2. To get energy for daily activities for all people
3. For maintenance and repair in adults

Millions of people globally feed with the following wrong motives and consequently they don't care what they are feeding on:-

• To stop hunger
• To fulfill routine

Malnutrition is a result of eating inadequate amount or wrong food mixtures while hunger is a result of food shortage. This means malnutrition can occur when there is abundance due to wrong mixtures. Good Eating habits observe the following:-

• Distribution :Frequency: Eat 3 balanced meals + 2 snacks Daily
• Contents: Eat balanced/diversified meals which provides all the nutrients required by the body.
• Amount: eat enough/adquate to provide the body with the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of all the essential nutrients.

A balanced meal has the following 7 essential nutrients:-

1. Proteins
2. Carbohydrates
3. Vitamins
4. Minerals
5. Fats/Oils
6. Fibre
7. Clean Drinking Water: At least 8 glasses  / person/ day taken 20 minutes after a meal, to avoid diluting digestive enzymes.

The  functions of water in the body includes:-

• Refreshing and body cleansing
• Age therapy

All these essential nutrients should be should betaken at every sitting to promote good utilization by the human body. When taken at different times, utilization by the body is poor leading to wastage and poor health.

The family farm should therefore  provide the following 6 key food groups for food and nutrition security achievement.

1.      Carbohydrates

2.      Legumes

3.      Fruits

4.      Vegetables

5.      Animal source

6.      Clean drinking water

High impact nutrition intervention areas according to ministry of public health Kenya includes:-

1. Food production: Diversify production to ensure that all the above six groups are available on the family farm in order to provide the 7 essential nutrients. 
2. Breastfeeding: Sole breast feeding of infants for the first 6 months excluding even water. This alone has been observed to reduce child mortality by 13% which is line with millennium development goals. Breastfeeding should then continue for two years during the period in which alternatives are introduced gradually.
3. Expectant mothers:  intervention benefits both mother and child.
4. Lactating Mothers:                         ’’
5. Nutrition education for school children in order to develop the culture early
6. Food security for all people including the toothless aged. You cannot say there is food security for this category of citizens when the only food available is maize and beans.  

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Youth in Agriculture Motivation and Government Policy

Involvement of youth in agriculture is not only a good idea but crucial for agricultural economies sustainability. Most African economies heavily depend on farming to earn foreign exchange, for employment of 70% of the population, to provide raw materials for agro-industries and for food security among the citizens. Therefore youth in agriculture campaign is necessary for succession and sustainability of the industry. It goes without saying that absence of young people in agricultural activities points to a future economic disaster for Africa and most developing countries ,confirming an African proverb which says that, ‘‘a herd without calves is headed for extinction’’. The future of the farming industry is in the hands of the young people. It is vital that young people are involved in the industry early in life.

But in reality, traditionally and economically little is done to seriously involve youth in agriculture, until later in life when most likely they have developed other priorities. In this case farming becomes a supplementary activity without its due importance. According to the African tradition inherited land is not released to the young people for farming until later in life when they get married, yet land is a principal factor of production in farming. This practice is mainly responsible for propagation of traditional subsistence farming which lacks  vision and innovation leading to low returns. Governments’ policies to encourage ownership of land by the young people should be  formulated urgently. This will enable the industry to absorb young people at the height of their talent, energy, optimism and innovativeness. Involvement of young people in farming should employ a multi-sector approach for success.

 
This can be achieved through integration of youth in agriculture policy with education policy, young people employment policy and the policies of all relevant government sectors. Agricultural extension services should also be modernized to embrace information and communication technologies. The traditional extension methodologies like field days are no longer effective for reaching the youth in agriculture. Use of information and communication technology will modernize and change the face of farming, improve farm income and improve food security to the communities. The information and communication technology should be used to deliver extension services, provide accurate market information and to link the youth in agriculture with consumers of their farm produce. This will give youth in agriculture comparative advantage and a superior position in the market place.

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Coffee fortunes lure Kenyan growers

Kenya produces some of the world's finest coffee due to a favorable climate, geographical and soil conditions. The demand and prices for the Arabica variety grown in Kenya has sharply increased both in the domestic and international markets, due to adverse weather conditions in some top world coffee producing countries. The Arabica variety is reputable and fetches good prices for its high quality as it is used for blending coffee from other countries in the world. Farmers are currently earning an average of Sh60 per kilogram of cherry delivered to the factory. One well managed tree can produce up to 38 Kilograms of cherry according to an agriculture extensionist. 

This means with only 50 trees you can harvest 1,900 kilograms of cherry and earn Sh114, 000 per year. What a fortune for Kenyan smallholder farmers from the cherry! Time is ripe for youth to get involved in coffee agribusiness, which no longer requires many acres of land to earn a decent income. According to the commodity value chain players, the prices are likely to remain high in the world market for quite some time. The Ministry of agriculture and Coffee Board of Kenya projections shows that coffee export earnings will rise by 7 per cent year in the year 2012. Cherry Growers have responded to improved global prices by increasing investment in existing farms as well replanting to take advantage of the high prices.

The Government of Kenya in collaboration with the industry stakeholders on the other hand are determined to restore the sector until it regains its position of 1980s, as the main foreign exchange earner in the country by 2015.Fresh efforts have been launched to improve farm practices, increase annual cherry output, improve quality and offer better prices and incentives to the farmers. Last year the Ministry of Finance announced a bailout plan to write off Sh3.7 billion in debts before the end of the financial year. New industries rules have been have been established by Coffee Board of Kenya which allows the   Cooperatives to retain only 20% earnings from net coffee sales and pass the remainder to the farmers. Coffee was the chief foreign exchange earner in Kenya in 1980s. This was disrupted when farmers abandoned the golden crop as a result of mismanagement of Cooperatives, high cost of inputs, free market economy and lowered international prices.

The collapse of the industry adversely affected the livelihoods of many rural people who depended on the crop to educate their children and invest. This increased poverty and school dropout rates in the rural areas. With the current improvement of international prices a new problem of cherry and parchment theft has emerged. Picking of the cherry from other peoples farms at night is rampant as well stealing of the parchment from the factories. Some observers have attributed the recent wave of thefts to the mischievous millers and roasters who want to cash in on the lucrative prices. Security officials in collaboration with the community are doing everything possible to stop the cherry and parchment theft menace. However Coffee cherry and parchment theft is not peculiar to Kenya but has been experienced in some of the world’s leading producing countries.

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Tips for realization of your business dream in Kenya

A Business plan development is crucial for a successful farm business. A farm business plan is the road-map to a successful agriculture business. Furthermore most successful businesses are born out of a dream, a hobby, a vision, a passion or a drive. Every human being has a dream (some of them from child hood), But until you do something about the dream it remains a mere dream and never materializes. I can almost hear you asking, “What should I do with my dream? Don’t worry. You are in the right place as this article will teach you how to be successful in business. The components of a business plan are discussed below:-

1. Write down the dream in details: The dream is the most important thing in your business, as it will drive your passion and motivate you to achieve it. The dream shows you where you are taking your business and it will keep you going when things get hard; therefore never loose focus of the dream.
2. Identify the opportunity what human problems will your business solve? Or define the reason for existence of your business. A business must offer solution to a human problem or need for it to succeed. Therefore it goes without saying that every human problem is a business opportunity.
3. Set simple achievable targets: write down what you need to do to make your dream come true. This should be simple achievable targets also known as SMART objectives.

       

S	Specific	The targets should be simple and clear
M	Measurable	Quantify the targets to enable measuring of results
A	Attainable	Set a measure that you can deliver as you pursue your dream
R	Realistic	The target must be practical in relation to available resources
T	Time-frame	Set a period within which you need to achieve the dream

 4.  Decide on the form of business ownership: e.g. Family business, sole proprietorship, partnership, limited company etc

5. Identify your products or service which you will offer the market.
6. Conduct a simple market survey or research. Research need not be complicated and it involves:-
• Asking the right questions.
• Getting information.
• Decision making based on the information.

Important Questions in market survey

1. What market am I targeting?or Who will be my major customers? e.g supermarkets,  school children, people in estates.  
2.  What are the customer’s preferences or what are they looking for. what are their needs?Remember people will only buy what satisfies their existing need.
3. Is there any competition in the area for the product / service which I want to offer?
4. What are the strengths and weaknesses of competitors? take advantage of the competitors weaknesses.
5.  How much must I sell per month and at what price to break even and make profit?

a)      7. Write down the marketing plan for your dream business: Marketing is a fight to have your product or service as the preferred choice of your customers. How you carry out your marketing determines how far you will go in sales. The marketing plan is your master plan and it will be consulted more than any other document.

The key items that you must include in your marketing plan are as follows:-

• The pricing of your product or service: The price should recover the cost of production and earn a profit. A profit of between 20%-50% can be earned depending on the purchasing power of your customers, the price of competitors, and the inflation rate.
• Sale tactic.
• What will you do with spoiled products / returns?
• How will you advertise your product /service? e.g. through radio, newspaper, word of mouth.
• How will you deliver the product / service to the customers? e.g. bicycles, vans, internet or short message service can be used.
• Remember that the market is dynamic and the answers to these questions may change or require modification during implementation.

Financial plan: This section of your business plan is fed by all the above covered sections. Financial plan is about where the money will come from, how much you will need, what your income and expenditure will be, and by when you will have recovered the capital invested in the business.This section requires at least knowledge in basic book keeping skills and high level of accountability. Finally a business plan can help you get additional financing from financial institutions and/ or partners. Consult an expert after you have written down the basics of your business plan, in order to have a comprehensive business plan made for you. Remember a good business plan is the key to a successful business dream.

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Success Story of Kenyan Youth in Agriculture and ICT

75% of Kenyan population directly depends on small scale farming for their livelihood in the rural areas. The farming individuals are commonly elderly people between the ages of 45-65 years.However Geoffrey Mwamba has defied the common thinking of most Kenyans about agriculture. At the age of 27 years he is a proud owner of small scale tomato Farming business which he has named ever blazing farm, on 0.1ha or 1/4 acre of land. The farm is in Kiganjo Division,  Kiamwangi location, Ngenda sublocation, Gatundu District, Kiambu County in central Kenya region.             

Geoffrey mwamba practices agriculture with a difference employing youthful energy, enthusiasm and Knowledge attained from an Agricultural Training institution and business studies, to develop his agriculture business. Mwamba markets his tomatoes in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya and its environs, and the demand for his produce is so overwhelming that he recently started recruiting collaborators to grow tomatoes and capsicums for him.Mwamba extensively uses his mobile phone to send information to his customers and receive orders for his farming produce which greatly contributes to the expansion of his farming business. He also orders unique seeds which are not available in the local stores through the internet giving him comparative advantage in the bussiness.Geoffrey mwamba has no regrets and earns a decent living with  current gross earning amounting over KSH 120,000 per month from his tomato farming business. Mwamba attributes his success to determination, commitment, hard work, availability of a shallow well which belongs to his grandfather, encouragement and support from his parents and siblings.

 

On interviewing this youth in agriculture, he revealed big plans ahead to own additional land in order to expand his farming business, a mansion in a premium area of Nairobi City, the best car and the best family. His life goals are well written down in black and white and nothing will stop him from achieving them. He’s a role model and a mentor to youth in agriculture. Therefore there is no doubt youth can find rewarding employment in agriculture activities as evidenced by Geoffrey mwamba’s case.Read-http://yagrein.blogspot.com/p/our-activities.html

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