Who would ever have thought that an expansive fallow land, left untilled for a very long period of time would be habitat for bees and produce delicacy revered for its nutritional properties worldwide?
Nyaru honey comes from Nyaru farm which is located in Uasin Ngishu County. The 30 acre farm is along Eldoret-Kitale highway 25 kilometers North of Eldoret Town. It specializes in honey production and pasture well known as Rhodes Grass (Chloris gayanas) which is a source of animal feed widely used during dry spell amongst the farmers in the region.
Under EPTF’s Graduate Internship Programme(GRIP), Geoffrey Ngetich, a GRIP intern has been able to expand the occupancy of the bee hives from 2% to 40%. On the other hand, the projected amount of 150KGS honey gotten from the 40% occupancy of bees is worth KES 120,000/-
His engagement in farm management has also seen value addition for the Nyaru honey through up scaled efforts of better branding and packaging.
Before, 5KGS of honey used to be sold at KES 500/- After the processing and extraction, the same amount would come down to 3 KGS but with a value of KES 400 per KG translating to KES 1,200.
As regards pasture establishment, initially the acreage under the establishment was only 5 acres but with a well articulated plan from GRIP management, this has gone up to 13 acres. In addition, the farm had lots of waste in pasture harvesting and storage which was at 60% after sale of Rhodes grass – – from 500 bales harvested; only 200 bales would be sold and the rest go to waste.
However, the year 2016 saw 900 bales harvested, 800 sold at KSH 180/- per bale and only 100 going to waste making a total income of KES 126.000/-
Through GRIP EDP training offered to Geoffrey Ngetich, he has been able to cut cost of production with a view of making money out of the farm business. The information tabulated below has been extracted from his properly kept records, a result of the training that he underwent.
Mr.Josiah Kibisach, the owner of the emerging entrepreneurial entity, a teacher by profession and currently retired has in so many occasions applauded the progress he sees in his farm. He exclaimed ‘’nataka kuingia pia training ya EPTF. I want to develop a business for my children,iko na mafunzo mengi na nimefaidika’’.