Farmer Dumps Coffee For Profitable Bananas
From: nation.co.ke
Some 6.5 kilometres from Nyamira town, along the Ikonge-Chabera highway in Nyamusi village, is Monari Farm.
The Seeds of Gold team finds Meshack Monari on his banana farm, which sits on part of his 4.5-acre piece of land, using a Y-shaped branch to support a banana stem.
Out of the 4.5 acres, two are set aside for farming, mainly traditional green bananas, which are in high demand in the region due to their nutritional value.
Monari, a father of three, shifted from coffee to banana farming in 2006. He started with just eight suckers he bought from a neighbour at Sh25 each, who inspired him to start small.
“I decided to clear the coffee plantation when I realised the hustle was not rewarding. I was discouraged by relatively low market prices of Sh20 per kilo and I had to look for an alternative way to sustain my family,” reveals Monari who also rears chicken, four heads of dairy animals and grows managu (African nightshade).
