Dressed in blue overcoat on a bright morning, George Kanyi moves from one hay stack to another counting the bales keenly. And as he does this, his four workers load the bales to a lorry, which take them to a store on the farm. Elsewhere in the expansive farm, a tractor rumbles ceaselessly as it compacts more dry Rhodes grass into bales of hay. Rains have not been consistent in Nanyuki for good hay production this season, but Kanyi is lucky. He farms Rhodes grass through irrigation on about 30 acres reclaimed from a garbage site at the Nanyuki sewage treatment plant.
“Farming grass is profitable because it does not require a lot of inputs. Once you plant, it can last for even 10 years before replanting.” Rhodes grass, which is the most popular for making hay, grows well on flat and well-cultivated land. Some farmers like Kanyi intercrop the grass with wheat. “Once I harvest wheat, Rhodes grass continues to grow and it is harvested for the first time after a year.”
Once in a while, a farmer can spray chemicals to kill weeds. CAN fertiliser is also applied after every two years to boost the yields. When the rains are consistent, the grass is harvested after every four months. Kanyi produces between 150 and 200 bales of hay from each of the 30 acres he grows. The main market for the grass is in Nyeri and Murang’a counties where zero-grazing of dairy cows is highly practised. He sells the grass at between Sh100 and Sh300 each depending on the season. There are 12 workers on the farm although the cutting, tedding and baling is mechanised. The cost of producing a bale is Sh80, which goes to cutting, tedding and baling. Kanyi has an edge over other farmers since he uses water that has been recycled by Nanyuki Water and Sewage Company.
HIGH DEMAND
About 1,800 cubic metres of raw sewerage is discharged into the system daily. This effluent undergoes a biological recycling process that involves passing it through three ponds. He uses the recycled water from the last pond to irrigate the grass, thus, getting three harvests in a year. When demand is high, in particular between December and March, he sells a 25kg bale for Sh300. He started the farming in 2009 after approaching managers at the water firm and offered to clean the over 70 acres that were then strewn with garbage. In return, Kanyi asked the firm to give him user rights of the property for 10 years. The deal was sealed after eight months of negotiations. For over a year, he engaged street boys to collect the garbage and to direct trucks to dump waste at the designated corner. Driven by passion to generate income from the land, Kanyi sold his family’s quarter acre at Sh700,000 and added Sh200,000 from his savings to raise the capital to start his agricultural enterprise. Four years later, he has transformed the garbage dumpsite into one of the most vibrant hay production farms in the county. He also grows cabbages, lettuce, eggplants and cucumbers on the other section of the land. “This is a sustainable business because there is no time that I will ever lack water to irrigate the land even during the dry season,” he says.
LONG JOURNEY
In 2012, the National Environment Trust Fund recognised Kanyi’s efforts in rehabilitating the dumpsite by declaring him the winner of its Presidential Green Award and gave him Sh3 million. It has been a long journey for Kanyi. A military commander found the former street boy scavenging for food in Nanyuki town years ago. He asked him to clear grass on the sides of the runway at Laikipia Airbase. He was to sell the grass to pastoralists during the dry season and retain 70 per cent of the proceeds. Today, Kanyi, now aged 50 owes his success in hay farming to the Major-Gen (Rtd) Stephen Njung’e, who was then commander of the airbase. The deal gave him the confidence of venturing into fodder farming even when he didn’t have a square inch of land under his name. University students and farmers are among people who often visit Kanyi’s farm for lessons.Water from the sewerage system is regularly tested to ensure it is safe for irrigation or before it is released into the river. According to Nawasco Technical Manager Kennedy Gitonga, about 1,800 cubic metres of raw sewerage is discharged to the firm’s systems every day. This effluent undergoes a biological recycling process. “When the water goes through recycling, it is good for agricultural use. That is why we release it back into the rivers.”
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