Joyce Kenga

CategoriesSeed Entrepreneur By

Joyce Kenga is a seed entrepreneur located at Mudzongoloni Village, Kibarani Ward, Kilifi North Sub County. She was recruited in the KFI Project in 2017 and trained as a seed multiplier in November 2017 at Mtwapa KALRO. She received a total of 16 sixteen thousand cassava cuttings to plant a four-acre seed farm. During the project period, Joyce Kenga received training on cassava seed good agronomy practices (GAP), diseases management using the quality management protocol, rapid seed multiplication, the miniset system, cassava seed entrepreneurship, protocol standards for quality developed cassava planting material (QDPM), entrepreneurial skills development which include generating business ideas, business planning, costing, marketing and how to register the seed entrepreneurship business entity.

Joyce established her three-acre seed farm in May 2018 which has been in existence up to 2022 although with a reduced acreage of 1.5 acres due to the dry spell experienced in Kilifi County in 2021. She has adopted the trained concepts like rapid stem multiplication and has increase acreage under seed production from 3 acres in 2018 to 3.5 acres 2020. Dry spell experienced in Kilifi County in 2021 made Joyce Kenga to reduce the seed farm acreage to 1.5 acres in 2022 of 34,000 cuttings to farmers from within Kilifi County making a total of ksh 68,000. She used the money to pay school fees for her two children in secondary school.

Achievements

  • She has built a strong partnership with the follower farmers around her locality and has been able to supply them with cuttings for 2 consecutive years (2019, 2020).
  • She is in the process of registering her cassava seed business so that she can access more funding opportunities from other institutions (like Mbegu Fund, Imarika Sacco) to expand production acreage.
  • Joyce Kenga is one of the seed entrepreneurs network officials being in the process of registering the network with social services in Kilifi County.

Challenges

  • Few farmers buy cassava cuttings. Despite marketing his business, many farmers want to be given cuttings for free.
  • The dry spell experienced in Kilifi County in 2021 reduced her moral and thus reduced seed farm size to 1.5 acres.
  • Access to finances to expand production acreage.

Future Plans

  •  Increase her acreage under seed production to 9 acres in the next 3 years.
  • Be the largest supplier of quality cassava cuttings in Kilifi County.
  • Work with KALRO Mtwapa on the supply of clean seeds for planting in Kilifi County and beyond Kilifi County.