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Kenya: How the Country Can Benefit From Plant Tissue Culture
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Business Daily (Nairobi)
ANALYSIS
19 March 2008
Posted to the web 19 March 2008
Zablon Odhiambo
Faced with diminishing agricultural yields, more Kenyans could soon enjoy the benefits of new agricultural technologies, which are proving more effective in promoting higher output and quality produce.
Already, benefits from plant tissue-culture (TC) technology are being felt in some parts of the country. The trickle down effect is expected to be bolstered by the emergence of private enterprises to supplement efforts by local universities and State research agencies.
The technology involving culturing of plant tissues to eliminate diseases is already bringing huge returns to fruit and vegetable farmers, especially in Kenya's Central province.
In Muguga, local farmers are growing TC bananas, passion fruits and sweet potatoes, which have resulted in bumper harvests, helping small-holder farmers to fetch more for their produce.
Ms Ann Muli, the Managing Director of Mimea International Limited, has become the latest entrant into the tissue-culture business as a full commercial venture. Her company also becomes the only other private commercial tissue culture business in Kenya after Genetics Technologies Limited.
Speaking to Business Daily, Ms Muli said her company started two years ago is currently enjoying brisk business, especially in Kenya's lucrative flower industry.
Other than producing quality seedlings for flower farmers, Mimea International Limited also produces aloe vera, fruit trees such as tangerines, passion, citrus, mangoes, paw paw and jack fruit: trees species include macamia, jatropha caucus, moringa, amarula, warbugia, sausage trees common locally as Muratina, Neem, and Prunus Africana.
The company also produces mushroom spawns and trains farmers on mushroom farming as well as the malaria drug artemesia annua and bamboo, but on a small scale.
Ms Muli says the Horticultural Crops Development Authority (HCDA) has been a key supporter through farmer trainings on proper management. HCDA is also a major buyer of the company products.
Mimea International, she hinted, wants to expand into the regional market. "We have established contacts in Tanzania and the Congo and have plans for Ethiopia," she says.
A microbiologist with over 10 years experience, Ms Muli admits that getting the company running was not easy. She also acknowledges that the company needs to rely on contracts to stem losses as compared to production that is not demand-driven.
Flower farmers, she says, have become her company's best bet.
Due to well-defined seasonality of their operations, flower producers are more dependable than other clients who are often caught up in the rush for seedlings during the onset of rains.
She says flower farmers have shown a lot of interest on realising they can save over half their operating expenses by acquiring seedlings locally as compared to imports from US and other markets.
A former graduate of Kabete Technical Training Institute before joining Kenya Polytechnic for a higher diploma in industrial microbiology, it took her over ten years to establish the enterprise.
First employed as an assistant technician with Genetics Technologies Limited, she rose to become a laboratory manager in 1997 before ascending to the office of Production Manager in 2002.
Her stint as production manager lasted two years before she developed the idea of starting her own company. But before leaving the job, Ms Muli took up the challenge to establish an informal tissue culture facility.
Having worked with the University of Nairobi on plant tissue-culture of the bananas, eucalyptus hybrids, pineapples and assorted flowers, she had gained substantial experience.
Although she knew she was up to the task, Ms Muli did not imagine the services of a local carpenter could bring out the requisite technology to start off her business. She took off from her sister's store in Westlands, Nairobi.
She turned the store into a culturing room and installed machines to control the temperatures.
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Establishing the controls, Ms Muli says, was not an easy task. She was facing major financial constraints and could, therefore, not acquire other necessary machines since the budget ran into millions of shillings.
She took to improvising and engaged the services a local artisan, instructing him through the construction process.
Partly due to lack of finances, she relied on untrained minds like her houshelp, whom she trained on how to prepare the growth media - the artificial soil with vitamins, mineral salts and growth regulators.
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