Techie seeks to fill nutrition gap with microgreens

Samuel Kamau has created a little vegetables and herbs garden that has everything from basil to chives and cumin.

At Little farm microgreens at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in Juja, he has converted a room within the bungalow into a well-designed microgreen space with each of the plants carefully planted in their own space.

“I am an IT graduate. However, I struggled to find work, so I had to be very creative,” he says.

His passion for growing microgreens, vegetables harvested just at the seedling stage, started when he travelled to Egypt for an exchange programme through Kenya Scouts Association.

“I was served a meal, a salad. Being a Kenyan, who's used to eating cooked veggies, I found it hard to eat raw food. But it was a daily meal, so it reached a point when I was hungry so I had to eat it,” he says.

“Out of curiosity I started asking questions, and that is how I came to learn that they were microgreens. When I came back, I started researching microgreens on social media."

Mr Mburu is now a young farmer and expert on microgreens, who abandoned IT to help fill a nutritional gap.

Five years later, he grows microgreens using all types of gardens, including vertical, horizontal, and in sacks.

“Microgreens are young seedlings of edible vegetables and herbs. When vegetables start to sprout out, they go through two stages; sprouting and true leaves. At the true leaves stage is when we call it a microgreen,” he says.

Many edible plants can be used to produce microgreens. Among the standard vegetables, the most popular ones are those belonging to the broccoli family such as broccoli, radish, cauliflower, arugula, cabbage, kale, and mustard, which are characterised by a very short growth cycle of between seven to eight days maximum.

“Interestingly, microgreens are also produced using the seeds of aromatic herbs such as basil, chives, and cumin,” he says.

He, however, warns that some common vegetables like tomato, pepper, eggplant, and potato are not edible at the seedling stage and are therefore not suitable to produce microgreens because they contain compounds that at high levels are toxic for humans.

Many agro vets have sections devoted to microgreens, which is a good place to investigate options.

Microgreens are delicate plants and the process of planting them is also not complicated.

“The seeds, coco peat, and punnet work best. Commercial garden soil varieties are not the best medium for microgreens because they are too compact and don't allow the roots to penetrate and grow.”

“I prefer coco peat since I am practising organic farming and because it is easier to manage.”

You don’t need to have the complexity of a greenhouse,” he says unless you are going large scale.

For commercial sales, farmers commonly grow microgreens in protected structures such as greenhouses and high tunnels.

“On normal conditions, it takes seven to 14 days to be ready for harvesting. The longest it takes is 21 days considering the type,” says Mr Mburu.

Ideally, microgreens are taken to market immediately after harvest. When that is not possible, they can be stored in cold storage for short periods.

“The potential for using microgreens in meals is endless. They are consumed raw, but they can be used as a pizza topping, on tacos, in sandwiches, in salads, smoothies, or the fillings of hamburgers, as well as providing bright colours and intense taste to any dish.

“Microgreens are nutrient-dense. This is their greatest benefit,” says Mr Mburu.

This is backed by researchers from the University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the United States Department of Agriculture who evaluated vitamin and carotenoid concentrations in a range of varieties in a 2012 paper and found that microgreens contained up to 40 times the nutrients of the plants’ mature leaves.

Other benefits of microgreens are a great source of fibre, essential minerals, vitamins, and antioxidant compounds.

Microgreens have disadvantages too.

“A short post-harvest life, which can create local demand and the potential to generate large profits if a market exists. Receptive market and culture where we don’t eat raw food is also another hindrance.”

Starting a microgreen business, Mr Mburu says, does not require a lot of capital. It can cost as low as Sh300.

“It all melts down to how big you want your garden to be. The materials are easy to access and at a cheaper price. For a startup, you will just need a punnet which costs Sh200 depending on the size. I started with Sh400. However, It’s different if you want to use a greenhouse.”

Mr Mburu, whose main clients are fine restaurants says the business is gradually gaining traction as people become more health conscious, at a time lifestyle diseases are among the leading causes of mortality in the country.

“My breakthrough was from a chef friend working in a big restaurant in Nairobi who made a big order. He then gave references and that is how I got roots.”

“It is important to understand your market to develop a microgreens product that meets consumer preferences,” he says.

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