There is hope though…thanks to sustainable agriculture; organic farming and the principles around urban farming, hydroponics, aquaponics, greenhouse tech, irrigation, water desalination, agroecology…Yes we can go green with agriculture but first we need to spread information about the risks of the current method of agriculture which I call chemical farming.

The Risks of Chemical Conventional Farming

Last weekend we went for a trip to Central Kenya highlands, Murang’s, Kangema to be exact and I had the privileged to see organic coffee bushes flowering. Growing up in Doonholm, you don’t get to see this often so I was very astounded. On the next farm the coffee bushes were not doing so well and after taking a closer look I saw traces of white chemicals which is the reason why they were not flowering when they ought to naturally.

• If you use X litres of toxic chemicals on your land this growing season, you will be forced to use X*2 toxic chemicals the next growing season and it goes on and on until your land is unproductive no more forcing you to buy food that you could have grown yourself and of course your land value depreciates since it is unproductive.
• Organic farming is the most sustainable agriculture that can be practised on the same land for millennia, like what our ancestors used to farm. Of course today we are more scientifically intelligent and if we use modern day science together with our forefathers style of farming, we can feed the Globe’s 7 Billion even 10 billion would not be a problem if we go green with ag.
• As we blog, Kenya is suffering shortage of fertilizer and most farmers believe that you need fossil-based fertilizers but the organic farmer just needs animal and plant waste and we are good to go. We even make our home made organic fertilizer at home 

There is still time to save the planet, so let’s go green

Please vote for my blog in the Bloggers Association of Kenya’s (BAKE) first BAKE Awards Thanks

Then there is making biogas. An airtight container, nothing added to plant waste… but one thing more: water lock. can be made from old canisters… and old tractor inner tire-tube can store some of that burning flame gas (no, there won’t be that much of it in small scales… but some cooking and heating power anyways… and perhaps to run some small engines for short while). Same type of slurry is left… 

Whichever method for making such plant nutrient slurry… it can be further combined with clean locally made charcoal (sun dried and rain washed seaweeds can be charcoaled cleanly, while getting the heat to use, by local materials again… or just sund dried water hyacinths). when mixing powdered charcoal to that slurry… a mixture is made: for making new permanent soil, from where now only lifeless (or just poor) sand exists. The charcoal powder which has sucked the nutrients inside it’s tiny pores, seems to tie the nutrients to the top layers of earth, not letting it to be washed away in few years. (charcoal alone does not do much and gets washed away in some time). New permanent soil patches for gardening food… while getting some heating energy. (some of India- areas willagers seem to have method to do all the stages from clay, needing no plastic containers… I do not know how effective, but that is extremely efficient in needing local materials only…).

The charcoal making without as much smoke as from ordinary fires, and while cooking/heating, seems to be the newest and oddest to people… (me included, I had to trie it ot believe it, and even then I had to burn some of the seaweed-stalk charcoals to be sure it really was charcoal). But it is actually easy to do… here’s (again, I think it is quite practical and important) the step by step How To instructions: (use outdoors only ! Carbon Monoxide can be very dangerous indoors in contained spaces):
holon.se/folke/carbon/simplechar/simplechar.shtml

Of course many people have never hear of organic farming so you can learn about organic  farming versus conventional farming here

The ONLY solution to hunger in Kenya is organic farming, which is the most productive form of sustainable agriculture, uses mostly free natural resources to improve soil fertility and soil structure (Not that inorganic fertilizer only contain nutrients for soil fertility but nothing to do with soil structure.

How To make Home Made Organic Fertilizer 

All you need to make organic fertilizer is the organic waste in your dust bin; banana peels, potato skins all the food waste is an invaluable asset to an organic farmer. The only offsite item is the ‘EM 1′ Natural solution for organic practices and yeast.

How To – Mix the organic solution with water, yeast and the organic waste and put inside an air-tight container and leave for 1-2 months to ferment, depending on the volume.

-Make sure to stir vigorously twice a week

NB; Make sure the container is air-tight because the fertilizer does produce a foul smell. The foul smell also repels insects in the farm so it is killing two birds with one stone

This is almost ready organic fertilizer which we will use growing some blueberries, straw berries and blackberries.

With the fertilizer shortage, a 5 KG bag will cost you not less than KES 6000 if not more…this home made organic fertilizer will cost you less than KES 500 in implicit (time taken to ferment the fertilizer is an opportunity cost in time but worth the while) and non implicit costs. I just saved you a bucket load of cash with a single blog post you can thank me later

Kenya is a water scarce country and subsequently a food scarce country. Agriculture consumes a lot of water and we let most of it run off into the Indian ocean. The government hardly invests in irrigation and when the irrigation is there, there are no seeds nor fertilizer which is not a bad thing because I think ALL farmers should go organic and use manure, compost, organic fertilizer and home-made fertilizer which is SUSTAINABLE!.

Organic farming also saves plenty of water simply by using mulch which covers the water from the hot African sun, hence avoiding evaporation of this precious commodity. When you spray toxic chemicals on your farm, they do seep into the water table and since most people dig boreholes…you are drinking the same chemicals you use to kill insects and weeds.

Kenya needs policy to check water & food insecurity otherwise there will be a nasty humanitarian disaster. We have to remember that the Congo forest is also losing trees by the truckload and the Namib desert to the south is also growing fast…..

At the organic farm, I met the Head Agronomist we had a very good meeting and I will be developing his website where he will be selling organic seeds for cabbage, kales, tea, coffee, berries…He will also be selling compost which they have prepared 10 000 KGs of it, most target customers are ex-pats and people with lawns, small gardens and other organic farmers like us

Berries

The Organic Agronomist also put emphasis on growing berries; rasp, black, blue, straw which all have a super high demand both locally and internationally and of course must be certified organic. I have always wanted to grow berries and getting good seeds and the farmer with expertise has always been the issue but I will make sure to develop his site in such a way that all of this knowledge is spread and we produce more berries because most of those in the market are imported.

Sweet Bell Peppers

I bought some yellow and red capsicum a.k.a sweet bell pepper and calling them sweet is an understatement, these veggies are so tasty if taken raw, fried or roasted with meat as in mshikaki, please do leave a comment

First of all going green is not a trend or a lifestyle…but a necessity. According to the World

Image Courtesy of Cartoon Stock

Water Council, 1.1 billion people lack access to clean water. Here in Kenya the situation is worse, personally I have to fetch water 100 meters from my apartment in Nairobi and I am not sure whether it is clean. In rural Kenya I may have to walk 30, 40 kilometers to search for water, the situation is grave!

Green Energy

This is no-brainer really, getting almost free energy from sun, solar and biomass is just plain simple. The world’s energy needs can be easily tapped from natural and renewable sources, scientific fact. Many companies and people who benefit from crude oil and other non-renewable sources often falsify research and claim that solar is ‘unscalable’ or wind is ‘immovable’ but the latest independent research even claims that the world could fully rely on green energy by 2030. Did you know the first car was powered by a biofuel? Yes it was powered by hemp seed oil, the only biofuel that can combust as is!

Alternative energy will most definitely reduce the cost of doing business subsequently bringing down the cost of living, improving your living standards while securing a future for our great grand children

Green Agriculture

Agriculture has been blamed for a stupendous amount of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the way we practise Ag today is as unsustainable as it can get. Most farmers in the world are considered conventional farmers in that they use synthetic chemicals (Most made from crude oil and natural gas) to try to boost soil fertility and a cocktail of toxic chemicals to get rid of pests, weeds and other unwanted organisms in the field. Not only does this system poison the underground water that we drink, we also eat the chemicals which have been absorbed by the plant so even if you wash with acid you are still ingesting chemical and you want food.

In the green economy, the modus operandi is organic farming, the oldest form of recorded agriculture that dates back 10 000 years ago. Hydroponics, aeroponics and permaculture are the few of the several innovations that boost food productivity while reducing the negative impact it has on the environment and making sure you are nourished with the safest food available.

Green Infrastructure

Modern day construction uses up a plethora of resources and the cost of running the building itself is magnanimous; not the high energy costs, water, fresh air, lighting may becomes a huge problem. In the green economy, emphasis is put on natural ecosystems and use of sustainable building materials like recycled prefab, metal e.t.c.

Commercial buildings are also responsible for a good chunk of the carbon emissions but we are now seeing green buildings like the The GreenHouse

Image by Anthony Kahonge

The bottom line is that going green offers a triple-bottom-line solution to most if not all of human problems, remember; Change begins with you please share your thoughts in the comments section below…

We need to think outside the box and practice more sustainable agriculture like AgroEcology. With below 2% forest cover in Kenya, rains are becoming sparse, water, scarce. More people are dying due to the negative trickle-down effects of this.

World-Renown treehugger, the late Wangari Maathai put alot of emphasis on the conservations of forest land and it seems she was preaching to the choir as we continue to clear forests in the name of real estate development. Of course with a growing population and rapid urbanization, we will end up with nothing but a concrete jungle and scarce natural resources.

Currently there is a magnanimous shortage of bees due to climate change and people are still ignorant about the matter, saying that global warming is due to some astrological effect that does not make sense unless you are an oil marketer.

I recently revised our business plan to go full organic because of the benefits of organic farming which I wrote about a while a go and also the simple fact that organics fetch a 30% premium vis-a-vis conventional crops. 

I made this decision after visiting a neighbouring organic farm and eating the raw veggies and seeing their practices that require absolutely no synthetic chemicals like pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and bla.

Being an agropreneur, I have to do extensive research on how to maximize profit while not interfering with the integrity of the food and after months of research I have landed to one conclusion; organic farming, innovation and technology are the only tools which can help solve our food crisis.

Food Crisis

Most of the food in this planet is conventionally grown i.e. they cannot grow without synthetic chemicals like fertilizer and herbicides which are manufactured from crude oil and natural gas. Crude oil is one of the most volatile commodities traded by people all over the world and whenever oil prices go up, food prices follow as well as everything else.

When food production is tied to a speculator’s feelings in wall street, you are going to have problems.

In Kenya, we suffer heavily due to crude oil price volatility like in the last 4 months where we have seen fuel prices rise by over 40% to record highs. This trickled down fast to inflation which soared for another 12th straight month to stand at 19.72%.

Back to organics….another important aspect of organic farming that convinced me was the fact that there are no GMOs allowed in the art, just plain old food We need more farmers, entrepreneurs, government and consumers to think organic as we fight this war with Monsanto’s genetically engineered foods.

Before you go, may you please vote for this blog here http://ardyis.cta.int/individual-vote

Anthony Mwangi, The Young Agropreneur

I am participating in a youth and agriculture blogging competition where I could win 1500 Euros and most importantly the opportunity of partnering with the organisation in encouraging the youth to venture into agriculture

I believe I have what it takes to become an influential member to the youth and older people and steer them towards sustainable agribusiness and healthy living in general. Apart from the prize money (1500 Euros 1st prize), the CTA Ardyis guys will also involve winning bloggers with further projects that involve the youth and agriculture, in a bid to fight food insecurity in Africa and the World.

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME HERE

ANTHONY MWANGI; YOUNG AGROPRENEUR (the link is in the middle of the page if you are having trouble finding it thanks and God Bless

Unlike him, I use facts in my arguments, have no time for he-say she-say, opinions are best used in a gamble you can afford to lose, not the GMO question.

So, let’s get to facts;

First of all we have to know what is this Monsanto we hear about everyday; In a nutshell, it is an agribusiness company that wants to monopolize the seed market hence controlling food, humanity, life. Monsanto controls over 80% of the food market in the USA.

"Monsanto is the devil himself" Anthony Kahonge

Fact #1

Monsanto are liars and do not inform the public on material issues regarding their products, processed and waste.

This is evident in the case of ‘The People of Aniston Vs Monsanto where the latter paid the former USD 700 million dollars for continuous pollution of the area with PCBs that came from their manufacturing plant.

Before being banned, PCBs were widely used by Monsanto as  coolants and insulating fluids (transformer oil) for transformers and capacitors, such as those used in old fluorescent light ballasts, as plasticizers in paints and cements, stabilizing additives in flexible PVC coatings of electrical wiring and electronic components, pesticide extenders, cutting oils, reactive flame retardants, lubricating oils, hydraulic fluids, and sealants (for caulking in schools and commercial buildings), adhesives, wood floor finishes (such as Fabulon and other products of Halowax in the U.S.), paints, de-dusting agents, water-proofing compounds, casting agents, vacuum pump fluids, fixatives in microscopy, surgical implants, and in carbonless copy (“NCR”) paper, Wikipedia

From the above information, we now know that PCBs were widely used in industry before being banned due to toxicity proven by the several deaths and hospitalization of the Aniston Victims. Research has shown that the PCBs from back in the day are more than active today and almost everyone in this planet earth has some degree of PCBs in their system because it’s in the water, air, food basically the whole environment.

Fact #2 

Agent Orange – Dioxin alert – Monsanto poisoned a whole country!

America lives and breathes war, weapons and war-like supplies is HUGE business and that’s why America staged 9-11 so as to gain public support and occupy Iraq, Afghan, anywhere there is good oil, opium (For making Heroine, Afghan’s dope is the best) but that is a blog post for another day.

In the Vietnam war, apart from bombing innocent people, America also decide to defoliate arable land and forest cover so as to starve the innocent people to death along with the guerillas. They did this with a chemical called Agent Orange, a carcinogen (cancer-causing agent). Up to today, effect of this chemical, produced by Monsanto, are still being suffered from as the most active ingredient, dioxin, is toxic and still present in Vietnam and American troops who served that war. Today, dioxin is banned.

Fact #3

GMOs do not solve any hunger issues.

In Kenya, over 80% of our land lies idle and under-utilised, even if you travel to the most productive parts of the country, there is a lot of idle land because of poor land ownership policies, how the F$#% is GMO going to solve that?

Monsanto have been selling us the idea that higher yields are the ‘key’ to solving this hunger issue which someone with half a brain would tell you otherwise.

Fact #4

GMOs cause cancer. Dr Árpád Pusztai (My Fav Scientist) is a Hungarian-born biochemist and nutritionist who spent 36 years at the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland. He is a world expert on plant lectins, authoring 270 papers and three books on the subject. In 1998 Pusztai publicly announced that the results of his research showed feeding genetically modified potatoes to rats had negative effects on their stomach lining, immune system and were causing some cancers. I linked our mediocre professor to Arpad’s research but he said that he is not a rat….very stupid, ignorant and idiotic coming from a professor, I replied by suggesting he adds some rat poison in his dinner and see if ‘he is not a rat’ pun intended.

Of course coming up with research like that, Dr Pusztai was fired because such publications would stall the inception of GMOs into Europe hence interfering with the Monsanto’s For-Profit agenda.

Fact #5

Monsanto wants to control the seed market using round up. Round up is a toxic chemical herbicide that kills ALL vegetation when and where applied. Monsanto then goes and engineers seed that is resistant to the round up and sells it to you. There is also an agreement that you are not supposed to save your own seed as it is patented and you can be sued by Monsanto for using your own property like the several Indian farmers who have been sued for producing GMO cotton that was wind-pollinated from other GMO farms yet they planted non GMO cotton. (Read; Ten Facts You Should Know About Monsanto)

It is all about profit, population control and profit with Monsanto and they are spreading fast, even Kenya legalised the importing of GMOs the other day so we are deep inside the battle zone. There is alot you can do, first by sharing this blog post with your friends and family, do a little more research on GMOs and who Monsanto is and finally organic farming does not use anything GMO, I know organic produce is expensive but if more people were on board, prices would gradually slow down due to the economies of scale. DON’T PANIC, EAT ORGANIC.

What are your thoughts on this? please feel free to share in the comments section.