Josephat Muhanji, an organic farmer tending his vegetable patch in Karen. Photo/Salaton Njau
As you drive into Purdy Arms in Karen, the serene environment of the place helps you understand how the Organic Farmers’ Market has found a temporary home there.
Camouflaged in the lush greenery near the parking, the market has a steady stream of clients walking in with their empty baskets before walking out with them fully laden.
The farmers’ market started in 2010 when Lilian Maremma, a farmer from Ngong, organised a group of local farmers practising organic farming to start a monthly market at Talisman Restaurant in the Karen area.
As demand for the produce increased, what was then a monthly market became a weekly affair, attracting regular clients and a host of farmers growing different produce.
Junnie Wangari, a regular, walks into the market moving from stand to stand picking her choice of vegetables. Introduced to the market by a friend who practised organic farming, she has now become a regular shopper at the market.
“It is a healthy option, that’s why I have chosen to buy these fruits and vegetables without all those chemicals in them,” she says.
Not alone, a representative from Thomas Barnado’s home is at the market buying vegetables in bulk; top on her list being Swiss chard also known as the rainbow spinach.
“I have 200 children to feed and I want them to be fed with the best to aid in their development,” she adds.
Along with the different clients, she has been frequenting the market despite its changing location. The original location was at Talisman before they moved to Rusty Nail then back to Talisman, and now at Purdy Arms as Talisman is under renovation.
The more than 20 farmers that make up the group travel from different parts of the country to the weekly market. Edna Muinde travels with her produce every weekend from her farm in Naivasha to join the network of farmers at the organic market in Karen while some of her colleagues come from Kiserian, Kikuyu, Thika, Rongai and Ngong.
Some of the farmers have speciality plants like the Lemon Cucumber, which is very similar to the regular cucumber save for its shape and colour which resemble a lemon. Bob Wagner has on display a gourmet salad mix with more than five different vegetables from the red Russian kale with its tangy flavour to the arugula with its spicy taste.
“This is a mix you can only find here and in less than a handful of other stores in the city,” he says. The pre-mixed green salad is a hot seller at the market as almost all the customers pass by to get a few hundred grams.
Each of the farmers at the market is certified by Encert Limited, an organisation that offers certification for organic farmers in the domestic market.
Before the formation of Encert in 2005, certification for organic produce was only available for the export market and was done by foreign bodies, most of them European-based. Organic farm production is governed by internationally-defined rules and standards.
To be certified, a farm is visited and inspected to ascertain that the farmer is keeping to the set standards.
According to Musa Njoka from Encert, in organic production, the use of synthetic fertilisers and pest and disease control product is prohibited. Purely organic seeds are not readily available in the Kenyan market and therefore farmers have been forced to use non-organic seeds.
“Farmers are allowed to use locally available seeds so long as they are not genetically modified,” says Njoka.
Due to the rules and standards employed for it, organic farming is a very labour intensive affair. Without the use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, manure and eco-friendly ways of keeping pests away are used. Most pest control is done manually with cross planting and herbs being used to keep the pests away.
“Sometimes you have to manually pick out the bugs off the plants,” explains Nguru. Neem products applied to the infested plant and other herbal remedies are also used in pest control.
This results in a slightly higher cost of farming. Without the use of fertiliser, the plants take longer to grow to size and need extra care. The price is then transferred to the customers who are not always happy about this, “these vegetables are becoming too expensive,” says one of the customers who looks rather annoyed at the refusal of the attendant to lower the cost of her produce.
“If they are not careful, they may price themselves out of business,” she adds. Wangari, however, is not bothered by the cost, “it’s pricey, but that is the sacrifice one has to make for personal health,” she says.
With different stakeholders playing a role in spreading awareness about organic farmers, more and more farmers are embracing the practice. Jane Nguru, had an interest in farming.
It was while attending a farmers show in Ngong Town that she got an understanding for organic farming. She then went for training facilitated by Kenya Organic Agricultural Network, KOAN, and has been an organic farmer for the last three years.
John Scully practises organic farming at his one and a half acre farm, Spoondrift, in Corner Baridi on Magadi Road. He first interacted with organic farming while he was editor of an environmental magazine.
“We covered organic farms and farmers from time to time. The farms we visited were beautiful and bountiful,” he says.
Using the produce from Spoondrift, he delivers to some of his friends who live too far away from Karen to visit the market. He and other vendors at the market sell produce at the market on Saturdays and deliver some to their customers on other days.
The main challenge faced by the farmers is pricing which is sometimes up to 25 per cent higher than that of similar produce in the supermarket. However, Scully says that the market for organic food locally is still young but most of their clients are loyal.
Finding and recruiting other local organic farmers with produce not already available in the market has been a challenge hindering the growth of the market.
“We would love for customers to be able to do all their food shopping at our market – we would love to find local producers of organic milk, and meat, flowers, spices, grains, and so on,” says Scully.
Apart from the weekly farmers’ market, there are stores and restaurants that offer organic products. Bridges Organic restaurant in the city’s CBD and Upper Hill offers a fully organic cuisine range. In Karen, Kalimoni Greens sells organic produce same as the Organic Shop in Gigiri.
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