Farmers in Migori County, a region in Kenya have been urged to plant soya beans as a cash crop to meet the country’s increasing demand for soya beans.
Speaking at the Agricultural Training Center on the outskirts of Kissi town, a soya bean farmer in Migori County, Isaac Odero mentioned that there are numerous groups within the county doing aggregation of soya beans due to increasing demand for soya beans in the market with less production of the crop.
He stated that “As soya bean farmers, we aggregate produce from the farmers together so that they can have a collective bargaining power and avoid exploitation by middlemen in the market.”
He further pointed out that although the market of the soya bean crop is robust, the production of the crop currently cannot meet the demand for the market thus farmers in the region need to produce more soya beans that will meet the demand of residents in the region and some neighboring countries such as Homa bay and Kisii.
“It is also possible to process the crop and produce pure soya beverage, oil and animal feeds as well as manure production for organic farms. Soya is also a killer of tiger weeds which can be cleared from farms, therefore, an advantage for farmers,” he said.
Another soya bean farmer, Frederick Odero, also stated that Kenya had been importing most of their soya beans from Zambia, Uganda, and Malawi.
“When these countries banned their exportation of soya beans, the cost of animal feeds in Kenya almost doubled. Therefore, we want our farmers to plant soya bean as a cash crop, that’s why we have come up with an initiative where we will provide farmers with seeds, fertilizers, and build their capacity,” he mentioned.
After a three-week intensive training organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which was aimed at building capacity in soya bean production, the farmers spoke after the training session.
“Soya bean can help us troubleshoot some of the problems we encounter in the feed industry. Feeds are very expensive and farmers can be empowered to produce their own feeds so that they reduce the cost of production and make poultry and dairy products easily available,” said a soya bean farmer, Dickson Otieno.
He, however, said they will leverage the training and add significant value to soya bean production in the region and the country at large.
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