Leveraging remote sensing and ICT to facilitate yield maximisation, structured trading and inclusive value chain participation for smallholder staple grain farmers in Kenya

Finger millet grain is a super-food, containing at least 9% protein and a good balance of amino acids. It is an excellent dietary source of calcium, iron, manganese, and methionine, an amino acid lacking in the diets of hundreds of millions of poor who live on starchy foods such as cassava, plantain, polished rice and maize meal. It is a versatile foodstuff used as whole, cracked, or ground flour; a dough; or a grain like rice. It is favoured by and recommended to breastfeeding mothers, given its high calcium and iron content and is often fortified with other grain as a supplementary food for infants. As such, there is high demand for millet flour outstripping production across the country.

Over the last decade, consumption in Kenya has stagnated at 6kg/head, mostly owing to declining production. Additionally, yields have declined to a lowly 200kg/acre against a potential of 1,500-3000kg/acre, while unreliable supplies have led to the loss of interest by millers. This project seeks to introduce finger millet as a cash crop for farmers in marginal agricultural areas during the long rain season, and a rotation crop such as soybean, groundnut, or sesame in the short rain season, to maximise yield and allow farmers to operate beyond subsistence.

We will provide farmers with critical support including access to inputs, agronomic support, data driven advice and mechanisation through a purpose-built precision farming platform. Additionally, USOMI, through use of forward contracting, will guarantee the purchase of the whole crop obtained. We already have market for the finger millet and must increase yield to sustain supplies.

Poultry farming using chickens with higher egg and meat production (adapted to local conditions) will also be introduced not only as a risk mitigation strategy but also as a complementary income source. The poultry will utilise any lower quality grain and other feed sources available in the environment. The recycling of potential waste grain into highly nutritious protein will ensure long term sustainability of the farming system.

Availability of these two complementary enterprises will ensure that socioeconomic, nutritional and food security needs are properly met. Considering most diets in rural Kenya rely on high starch foods lacking balanced nutritional content, this project will increase intake of highly nutritious animal source foods alongside millet, a super-food.

The outcomes of this project will have a high impact on alleviating the paradox of hungry farmers so prevalent in rural Kenya.