Vihiga farmers cash in on sunflower, soybeans value addition

A few kilometres from Majengo in Vihiga County sits an acre of sunflower field intercropped with maize. The farm belongs to Nasimiu Baraza, who has seen the benefit of the crop for the past four years now.

“The soils in Vihiga are quite acidic, if you plant maize alone you will get very little yield. So the years I have intercropped the maize with sunflower the yield has improved,” she says.

Ms Baraza is a member of Dellosa Sunfields Co-operative Society and sells the produce to process virgin oil and animal feed.

“The previous season I planted a half an acre and the yield was three bags 50-kilogramme bags of sunflower which I sold to the co-operative at Sh3,750,” says Baraza. Sunflower plants grow well in areas with sparse rainfall and soils should have slight acidity of 6.0 to 7.5.

The crop can be easily intercropped with maize, or legumes such as beans, soya beans and cow peas. It takes three months to harvest the plants.

The co-operative society supplies Ms Baraza with certified sunflower seeds of 89-98 seed variety for planting on her farm.

Dellosa Sunfields general manager Jackson Ehaji says the society processes sunflower oil and soy bean oil, which he says are highly nutritious.

“We buy sunflower and soybeans clean seeds that have been properly dried from members at Sh25 per kilo. We have contracted farmers across the western region,” he says. The co-operative then mills the dried seeds in machine to separate the oil and the seed cake. The milled seeds produce dark thick paste, which is left to settle for at least eight hours in clean clear buckets.

 “Once the residue settles at the bottom, we decant the oil and pasteurise to kill germs. We package the oil in bottles of one litre, 500ml and 250ml which we then sell at Sh200, Sh100 and Sh50 respectively,” he says.

The machine processes 1,000kgs of seeds per day to give the co-operative 250 litres of vegetable oil.

The black residue is added into the seed cake to make feed for poultry and cattle. A kilo of seed cake cists between Sh45 to Sh50. “We got most referrals from doctors in Vihiga telling their patient to use our sunflower and soya bean oil,” said Mr Ehaji. “They advise patients to buy our oils after they find their cholesterol level is high.”

In a good month, the co-operative earns Sh80,000 in sales. They market the oil in Vihiga, Kakamega and Kisumu.
“We are advocating cultivation of sunflower in Vihiga because it is a short term crop which only take three months. The county receives frequent rainfall and we feel the crop can uplift the economy fast. After every three month the farmer has some cash at hand,” he says.

Dellosa comprises 180 farmers as members drawn from Vihiga, Kakamega and Kitale. About 120 members are actively involved.

The co-operative has linked up farmers in Homa Bay to supply additional produce for oil processing.

“We had training organised for around 600 farmers on how to add value to our land. We did a lot of assessment and settled for sunflower and soybeans,” said Kagame Kisia, the co-operative’s treasurer.