Cereal Growers Association

🎊Cereal Growers Association (CGA), Farm to Market Alliance (FtMA), and CABI (Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International) Sign a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU)🎊 Today, Cereal Growers Association and Farm to Market Alliance (FtMA) strengthened their partnership with CABI (Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International) by signing an MoU to enable close collaboration on training, research, and building smallholder farmers' capacity for climate-resilient agriculture through a social behavior change and communication approach. The partnership will explore the Ukulima True behavior change campaign, which aims to reduce the risk of pesticides to farmers, consumers, and the environment. #TogetherWeGrow #makingmarketsworkbetterforfarmers

🌱 The Challenges of Tomato Farming 🍅 Tomato farming offers incredible opportunities, but it also comes with its fair share of challenges. From unpredictable weather patterns and pest infestations to market price fluctuations, farmers face a constant struggle to ensure that their hard work bears fruit—quite literally! This recent harvest showcases the efforts put in, but behind every successful yield is a story of resilience and adaptation. From climate change to market price fluctuations , our farmers continue to persevere, finding innovative solutions to overcome the odds. It's crucial that we continue to support our agricultural communities, invest in sustainable farming practices, and create systems that help mitigate these challenges. #Agriculture #TomatoFarming #FarmersChallenges #SustainableFarming #Resilience #FoodSecurity #Agribusiness

🎉 Farming Done Right Will Make You Rich!🎉 🇰🇪 Makueni County's smallholder farmers have seen a significant transformation thanks to the Cereal Value Enhancement Project (CVEP) and Strengthening Agribusiness Hubs Project(SAHAM), initiatives by Cereal Growers Association in partnership with Christian Aid, Kenya. 👩🌾 Previously struggling with low yields and poor market access, these farmers, including Mary Mathuli, a local Village-Based Advisor (VBA) from Muvau-Kikumini Ward, faced financial instability and food insecurity. The introduction of CVEP project in 2018 marked a turning point, as farmers like Mary were grouped into hubs and trained in modern farming techniques, leading to increased crop output and improved livelihoods. 📺 Watch this video to get a clearer picture of how more than 100 farmers under Muvau Farmers Hub have benefited. #TogetherWeGrow Anthony Kioko, George Mabuka, lydhia kiswii

A Success! ✨️ A big thank you to our Co-Organizers African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS) and WBCSD – World Business Council for Sustainable Development and AGRA for a successful panel this morning. We heard from a broad spectrum of partners on the action and collaboration needed to strengthen public/private sector engagements increase support for smallholders. We look forward to the rest of the week, you can find FtMA staff at our booth all week at the AFS Forum! Anastasia Mbatia George Njoroge Øystein Botillen #africafoodsystems #makingmarketswork #farmtomarketalliance

Earlier in the week, Cereal Growers Association team, led by CEO Anthony Kioko and Project Manager Samuel Osebe, attended a Farmer Field Day themed "Health for All, Hunger for None" at the youthful Farmer Service Center (FSC) Wairimu Susan Waruguru's farm in Kimicha, Kirinyaga County. At 24, Susan, a recent graduate, has embraced sustainable farming. Collaborating with her parents, she concentrates on cultivating maize and tomatoes for their livelihood. Susan has benefited from Bayer and CGA's initiatives on Good Agricultural Practices, notably through the Smallholder Productivity Improvement Project (SMAPIP). The field day attracted over 1,000 farmers who learned from Susan's achievements by observing her demo plots. The field day also welcomed distinguished Bayer officials from Europe, Africa, and Asia, including @Debra Mallowa (Africa Regional Head, Bayer), Joern Kraegeloh (Bayer MD East Africa), and Vitalis Wafula (Smallholder Partnerships Lead-Africa, Bayer), among many other distinguished guests. FSCs Wachira Michael, Gregory Katiso, Margaret Kumber, Simon Kemori, Jane Njuguna, and Elizabeth Gacheru from Nakuru, Makueni, Kakamega, and Kiambu also had a chance to share the FSC model with the delegation. #togetherwegrow

✍️To wrap up this week's Minimum Tillage tips, let's look at some more advantages of Minimum Tillage over Traditional Tillage✍️ 📕Minimum Tillage breaks hard pans, enhances water infiltration, and reduces surface runoff, while Traditional Tillage creates hard pans, reduces water infiltration, and increases surface runoff. 📕Minimum Tillage preserves soil structure and reduces soil erosion with little disturbance to micro-organisms while Traditional Tillage disrupts soil structure, increases soil erosion, and disturbs soil micro-organisms 📕Minimum Tillage keeps the weed seed bank undisturbed, hence reducing weed pressure (long-term), while Traditional Tillage unearths dormant weed seed bank and covers fresh weed seeds, increasing weed pressure #TogetherWeGrow #makingmarketsworkbetterforfarmers #sustainablefarming #minimumtillage #FtMA #STRAK

👏Today, we highlight the advantages of Minimum Tillage over Conventional Tillage👏 ✅Minimum tillage Increases soil organic matter, soil carbon, and overall soil fertility in the long term, while traditional tillage reduces soil organic matter and soil carbon🪹 ✅Minimum tillage reduces soil water loss, while traditional tillage exposes soil and increases soil water loss💧 ✅Minimum tillage saves energy and time, while traditional tillage consumes more time and energy⏰ ✅Minimum tillage reduces production cost, while traditional tillage Increases production cost💵 Mark the time: ⏲ At 3 PM, we conclude this week's posts with additional advantages. #TogetherWeGrow #makingmarketsworkbetterforfarmers #sustainablefarming #minimumtillage #FtMA #STRAK

🙌 TIP OF THE DAY 🙌 👨🌾 Minimum Tillage practices should be combined with other Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), such as using the right inputs, crop rotation, residue retention, compost application, and others, to achieve the best results. Tune in tomorrow as we highlight the benefits of minimum tillage over conventional tillage. Farm to Market Alliance #togetherwegrow #makingmarketsworkbetterforfarmers #sustainablefarming #minimumtillage

Attention small-scale farmers! 🌱 Want to boost your crop yield with minimum tillage? Here's how you can do it with just a basin: 1. Farmers with small land sizes can practice minimum tillage using basins.  2. To make a basin, use a hand hoe/jembe to prepare a hole 15-20cm deep and 35cm long, the width of the hole depends on the size of the hoe/jembe but the narrower the better for the minimum soil disturbance.  3. The space between 1 basin and the next should be 35cm and the space from one row/line to the other should be 75cm or 90cm. Share this with fellow farmers and let's discuss more sustainable farming techniques in the comments below! 👩🌾👨🌾 Farm to Market Alliance #togetherwegrow #makingmarketsworkbetterforfarmers #SustainableFarming #MinimumTillage

Tip of the day: When practicing minimum tillage, ensure the right depth is achieved, enough to break the hardpan, allow the roots to penetrate, and create a reservoir to hold water. #togetherwegrow #makingmarketsworkbetterforfarmers #sustainablefarming #minimumtillage