Africa Innovates Magazine - Flipbook - Page 27
AGRICULTURE
Oyeska Greens (2014) aims to make the Kenyan coast the hub of
agriculture where greenhouse farming, technology, entrepreneurship,
smart marketing and climate-resilient agriculture intersect to produce
phenomenal change that will create food security.
Dr. Ngumbi holds a Ph.D. in Entomology from Auburn University and
is Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois. She is founder of this
transformational organization.
In Oyeska Greens’s first year, Ngumbi and her brother convinced 18
farmers to participate in the project - training them in greenhouse
production, modern production practices, smart marketing, hand
irrigation and the value of soil testing. By the end of the growing season,
these farmers harvested more than 3 tons of bell peppers, 4 tons of
tomatoes, and marketed crops that generated close to USD1,000 in a
region where the average income per capita is $3 per day.
Oyeska Greens implements marketing and capacity building trainings
to promote sustainable agricultural production, increase the area of
horticultural crops, stimulate entrepreneurship, and enable smallholders
to engage in competitive, profitable, and dynamic agriculture. Their
model leverages digital and social media platforms, as well as other
technologies, to promote agribusiness and agricultural value chain
development. Over 1,000 farmers have been impacted.
“A key focus of my
work is global food
security. In addition
to developing new
approaches and
technologies that
farmers here can
use, I want to find
solutions for resourcepoor farmers who
can’t afford expensive
technologies.’’
Esther Ngumbi,
Oyeska Greens CEO
Photo credit: blogs.illinois.edu, Esther Ngumbi
“As a young person working on my
family’s farm, I saw every year that
half-way through the growing season,
insects would come and take away
much of our food. And then drought
would come and take much of what
was left. This had a big influence on
me.’’
Esther Ngumbi,
Oyeska Greens CEO
SHOWCASING AFRICAN CLIMATE CHAMPIONS
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