When rabbit urine, loans yield tidy sums

Rabbit farmer Humphrey Wangila is one of the farmers who have diversified their activities after getting agricultural skills, farm inputs and credit to increase productivity. PHOTO/MAZERA NDURYA

What you need to know:

  • Mr Atsali said many rural farmers were hearing about microfinance for the first time because of lack of information.
  • Humphrey Wangila is one of the farmers who have diversified their activities after getting agricultural skills, farm inputs and credit to increase productivity.
  • From a simple structure where he keeps rabbits, Wangila has devised a system of trapping the urine and the dung.

A group of farmers in Bungoma and Busia counties has taken to microfinance to increase crop acreage after many years of letting huge chunks of land remain underused.

Blaming poverty and lack of access to farm inputs, more than 300 farmers have increased food production in the past two years, thanks to accessible credit.

Some have diversified into other farming activities such as rearing of rabbits, dairy goats, fish and traditional chicken, which are fetching tidy sums of money.

Humphrey Wangila is one of the farmers who have diversified their activities after getting agricultural skills, farm inputs and credit to increase productivity.

Others like Agnes Magero, a widow and mother of eight, are increasing the acreage under maize.

Now Wangila wants to increase his rabbits to 100 in the next few weeks because of the many benefits from the animals.

For an area where the number of chicken and cows one owns seem to define wealth, Wangila is trying to beat the odds and taking the enterprise to new heights.

Wangila, of Mukuyuni village in Bumula, Bungoma County, is not your ordinary rabbit farmer. He is adding value to what many would describe as child’s play.

The father of five children is also selling rabbit urine and dung to farmers who have come to learn about the intrinsic value of organic manure.

“At first it was a pastime with just two rabbits which I got from Action for Rural Health and Development (Rural Action), an organisation working in Bungoma County.

The information I got about rabbits made me take the bold step of rearing them,” said Wangila, who spoke after receiving a Sh20,000 loan from the firm’s CEO, Mr Joseph Atsali.

A few drops of urine can be used as nutrients for crops, especially for top dressing.

From a simple structure where he keeps rabbits, Wangila has devised a system of trapping the urine and the dung.

During the interview, he had in his store about 25 litres of urine, which he would sell to farmers at Sh1,000 a litre. He was expecting to earn Sh25,000 as demand rises.

Wangila has also experimented with tree seedlings and has become a role model in the village that is known for sugar cane and maize growing.

Hezbon Itumbo, another farmer in Teso, now has every reason to smile as he watches his six-acre piece of land bloom with a healthy maize crop.

Last year he managed to cultivate only one acre but this year he has added five more acres.

He expects to produce more than 100 bags of maize.

“We have been sitting on wealth all these years.

“Most of us have been complaining about poverty even though we have been blessed with fertile land that has just been lying idle.

The farm inputs have changed everything for me and other farmers,” he adds.

In Kocholia, Teso, in Busia County, Mrs Magero is planning to increase acreage under maize to use the family’s 20 acres.

“Last year I planted half an acre but this year I have increased to one acre, and hope to cultivate more next year because of the new scheme, which enables me to get fertiliser and certified seeds.

“We have also decided that as neighbouring farmers, we seek loans to purchase cows for ploughing because we cannot afford to hire tractors,” she says, adding that with proper husbandry she can produce 20 bags of maize from the one-acre land she has cultivated this year.

Mr Atsali, who heads Rural Action, says the organisation spends about Sh1.3 million in farm inputs to farmers.

About 100 acres are being cultivated, with more expected soon, he says.

“The biggest challenge facing our farmers in rural areas is that while land is readily available most of them cannot afford the high cost of farm inputs and end up cultivating just small portions which is not even enough for their sustenance.

“There is great potential and as a country, empowering rural farmers can greatly help in addressing food security as well as creating wealth,” Mr Atsali said.

He said most of the farmers are able to repay the money they borrow in one season because of better yields from improved farming methods that include use of proper seeds and fertilizer.

Mr Atsali said many rural farmers were hearing about microfinance for the first time because of lack of information.

For one to benefit, they register and buy shares into the organisation which enables them to borrow money.

“This has now inculcated a culture of savings among the local people.

We would like to see them venture into other crops apart from maize so that with time they will be able to undertake value addition for their produce and earn more,” he said.