Kenya Breweries assures sorghum growers of ready market for crop

FILE | NATION
The East African Breweries says its demand for sorghum is set to increase within the next two years and has asked farmers to increase production.

A beer maker has guaranteed sorghum farmers an annual ready market of at least 50,000 tonnes.

East African Breweries estimates its demand for sorghum stands at 12 tonnes this year and will double next year before shooting up to the 50 tonnes by 2014.

And to buoy the farmers into cashing on in this window of opportunity, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute has developed a high variety drought resistant seed named Gadam which takes a maximum of 50 days to mature.

The seed can thrive in a rainfall regime of between 200 and 800 mm hence ideal even for the perpetual drought stricken areas of the country.

A quarter of an acre under this seed is estimated to guarantee an average of income of Sh20,000 in three months.

Announcing the new development in Mbeere County during a farmers’ sensitisation programme, Kari researcher Mr David Karanja said the new seed has been under development since 2008 and was now certified as reliable.

“This variety will best suit farmers within range lands since it is drought resistant and its fast maturity period,” he said.

He said that various stakeholders will be complementing each other in making farmers earn from sorghum farming.

Mr Karanja said Equity Bank has committed itself to grant interested farmers soft loans and an insurance scheme under the Kilimo Biashara arrangement.

“We can only hope that local farmers will take up the challenge and cash in on this opening that guarantees them a ready and consistent market as well as prompt payments,” he said.

Mr Karanja said currently a kilogramme of sorghum is being bought at Sh28 with hopes that the prices will get better.

“The prices have improved since 2004 when a kilogramme of sorghum was being bought at Sh3 shillings,” he said.

According to a marketing officer from EABL Mr Jacob Githigi, the brewer is seeking alternatives to barley and the newly developed seed has been certified to contain ideal carbohydrates desirable in brewing.

He said that EABL requires over 60,000 tonnes of barley for beer production hence a good opportunity for sorghum farmers to earn big as they move in to supply their commodities in the programme to phase out barley use.

“The EABL has in recent past been importing large volumes of sorghum from neighbouring Tanzania hence the need for local farmers to fully embrace sorghum farming in order to maximise earnings,” he said.

So far, the pilot projects for this new seed are ongoing in Eastern Province where Sorghum farmers in the larger Kitui District have pioneered the drive.

The programme has taken off in the lower zones of Eastern Province - Kitui, Makueni, Machakos, Tharaka, Embu and some parts of the larger Meru Districts.

There is an estimated 15,000 farmers in the region are reported to be active in sorghum farming.