Chili pepper at a Ngoliba farm, Thika East. [Photo: Thika Today]
Farmers in Ngoliba, Thika East have been encouraged to embrace chilli pepper farming which does well in dry and hot conditions.
Ngoliba is characterised by scrubby dry patches of land which are unfavourable for almost any type of farming.
But for one 33-year-old Ruth Kamau, pepper farming is the real deal in this hot and dry part of Kiambu County.
"Chilli pepper has all it takes to thrive in this climate. After four years in real estate, I decided to invest the Sh4 million I had saved to lease 12 acres of land in Ngoliba and I have no regrets," Kamau told Thika today on Tuesday at her farm.
Kamau attributes her success in this business to prior research she carried out before she ventured into this farming.
"I did a lot of study about the growing of chilli and also researched extensively on the possible markets," she adds.
Ruth says that in her farm she employs the services of about 50 workers who are usually contracted to harvest both the red and green chillies, work that must be completed in one day, she says.
She adds that her chillies end up in Germany where a kilo of the same fetches her up to Sh70. In a good week, she says each acre of land gives her up to three tonnes of chillies, and she gets Sh. 170,000 from each tonne.
However, she admits that it has not been a walk in the park as she recounts that one time she was forced to uproot an entire 12 acres of chilli after the young plants suffered a severe bacterial infection.
"Despite these challenges, I can say that benefits of this farming supersedes challenges. Let locals embrace this kind of farming," Kamau said.