Characterization of Mango Farming System in Kitui County, Kenya

CHARACTERIZATION OF MANGO FARMING SYSTEM IN KITUI COUNTY, KENYA

By Rashidatu Abdulai

CHARACTERIZATION OF MANGO FARMING SYSTEM IN KITUI COUNTY,

KENYA

Name: Rashidatu Abdulai Number: 860227003090 Study programme: Masters Earth and Environment Internship code: PPS 70424 Academic year: 2019 Chair group(s): Plant Production System (PPS) Supervisor: Esther Ronner

ABSTRACT A farm characterization survey on mango production was conducted in Kitui county, Kenya. The main aim of this research was to address the general overview of mango production in Kitui with regards to different types of mangoes (local or grafted), mango varieties, management practices, pests and diseases and prices of mangoes. There were two study locations: Kitui central and Mwingi west (Migwani) sub-counties. A total of nine villages were selected from these sub- locations and interviewed on mango production. Basic household data were also collected (household members, age, education etc.…). A total of 101 farmers were interviewed (50 for Kitui central and 51 for Migwani). Results showed that 36% of farmers in both sub-locations are small scale; 44% and 38% are medium scale farmers for Kitui central and Migwani respectively and 20% and 28% are large scale farmers for Kitui central and Migwani respectively. While 100% of farmers interviewed in both locations grew grafted mango only 40% and 39% grew indigenous mango varieties in Kitui central and Migwani respectively. The Apple mango variety was the most grown variety by most farmers because it fetched the highest price in the market and for its sweet and juicy nature. Respondents said the two most common mode of sales of their mango fruits were through buyers coming to the farm (57% of respondents) and through the local market (33%). Above 80% of farmers were recorded to apply pruning, weeding and pest and disease control in both sub-locations on their mango farm. Over 60% of farmers often have their farms affected by common pests (fruit fly, seed weevil, aphids, thrips, bugs and mites) in both sub-locations. Furthermore, not less than 90% of farmers responded to have their farms affected by some common diseases (Anthracnose, powdery mildew and rots) in both sub-locations.

Table of Contents ABSTRACT...... 3 Introduction ...... 5 General Information about Study area (Kitui county) ...... 5 Mango production in Kitui County ...... 8 Research Questions ...... 9 Methodology ...... 10 Data analysis ...... 11 RESULTS ...... 12 Discussion...... 20 CONCLUSIONS...... 21 RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 22 REFERENCES ...... 23

Introduction Sustainable Transition to Entrepreneurial Production in Agriculture through Upgrading (STEP-UP) is a project that aims to contribute to food security and sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa. STEP-UP is focused on two main countries in Africa: Kenya (mango) and Uganda (banana). In this study we focused on Kenya (Mango). Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is an important fruit as well as a cash crop and plays a potential role in developing agriculture in many countries in sub- Saharan Africa (Lux et al. 2003). It is classified as the third most important fruit in Kenya with regards to total production and area (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO] 2009b). In Kenya, the mangoes are mainly grown by smallholder farmers as a major source of household income and as source of food (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO] 2009b). Furthermore, the mango fruit is not only delicious but also rich in dietary fiber, mineral, vitamins (A, E, K etc.….) and poly- phenolic flavonoid antioxidant compounds. Mangoes also contains small amount of protein, fats, sugar and other nutrients. It is mostly eaten fresh as a dessert and in some cases processed as jams, juice, nectars, jellies as well as mango dry flakes and chips (Hamdard et al., 2004). In 2010, research shows that the total area under mango production in Kenya was 34,371 hectares, which yields a total production of 537,315 metric tons which amounts to US$ 97.6 million (Horticultural Crops Developing Authority [HCDA] 2010). The mango fruit accounted for 29% of the total fresh fruit trading in the export market; mainly to the Middle East when suppliers from India and Pakistan are off season (HCDA 2010).

General Information about Study area (Kitui county) Kitui County is one of the counties in Kenya. It is one of the main leading mango production areas in Kenya. Both grafted and indigenous mangoes are grown, and the county has two main mango processing plants in two of its sub-locations: Kitui central and Migwani (Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) quarter 1 progress report, 2014). Kitui has eight sub-counties (Figure 1). The capital town of the County is named Kitui. Kitui is one of the largest towns in Kitui County. Another prominent town in Kitui County is Mwingi. Kitui county has a population of 1,012,709 (County Government of Kitui (CGoK) census, 2009). It covers an area of 24,385.1 km2 (Wiesmann et al., 2014).

Figure 1: Map of Kitui County showing various sub-counties

The climate in Kitui County is semi-arid with temperatures between 14oC to 34oC. February and September are consisted the hottest months during the year. There are two rainy seasons in Kitui (Figure 2); one which ranges from March to May (long) and another (short) which ranges approximately from October to December (County Government of Kitui, 2014). The short rains are mostly observed to be more reliable, which is the reason that farmers grow their major food crops in this season. Due to the irregular raining patterns (Figure 3) the period of rainfall varies from year to year as well as the amount of rainfall which ranges between 250mm to 1050mm (County Government of Kitui, 2013).

The common types of soils in Kitui County are acrisols, luvisols and ferralsols. These soils are well drained, with dark reddish brown to dark yellowish brown in color (KURIA et al.,2011).

Figure 2: Rainfall distribution in Kitui County for 2019 (from January to April). Average rainfall since 1982 to 2018. (Source: Kitui Meteorological Department (National draught management authority, April 2019)

Figure 3: Annual rainfall in Kitui County, 1985-2015 (Source: Kitui Meteorological Department (Mutunga et al., 2017))

Kamba is the major ethno- cultural group whereas Kikamba is the dialect spoken by people of Kitui County (KICABA Cultural Center, 2013). The people of Kamba practiced hunting, rearing livestock and farming activities since 17th Century (Ikeno, 1989). Since 20th century, the population of farmers living and farming on marginal lands in Kitui have been on rise. In recent times, about 87% of people in Kitui earn their income from farming with the use of an average of two hectares of land. Others make their ends meet from casual labor as well as migrating to cities for greener pastures (County Government of Kitui, 2013). The main crops grown are maize, green grams, cowpea and pigeon pea. These are mostly rain fed farms. Few people do rear livestock and the manure is usually used as fertilizer for farms. Due to the high cost of fertilizers, farmers barely rely on them for better yields (Ralph et al., 2006; Government of Kitui, 2013).

Mango production in Kitui County Kitui County is one of the counties that is known for mango production of both indigenous and grafted mango and is the area under study in this research. Research shows that in 2018 the county has approximately a total of 345,207 trees (both local and grafted) which yielded a total of 21,984.4 metric tonnes (Table 1). Despite the fruit’s benefits and importance, mango production is still faced by several constraints such as inadequate processing units, poor infrastructure and bad mango quality, large quantities of mangoes are lost due to spoilage after harvest and lack of good pest management skills. It is therefore important to take steps to upgrade smallholder farmers’ livelihoods as a means of insuring future rural food security (STEP- UP proposal, 2014).

STEP-UP approach aims to improve and expand local and regional market participation with suitable (mango) products, produced sustainably in the right quality and quantity. In the end, the project seeks to gain higher and appreciable income levels for mango farmers and create more job opportunities in the community. In this research we seek to provide the general overview of mango production in Kitui with regards to yields, different types of mangoes (local or grafted), mango varieties, management practices and prices of mangoes.

Table 1. Mango production in Kitui County (source, Kitui County office)

Research Questions 1. How do mango farms differ based on the number of mango trees? 2. What are the common mango varieties grown by farmers in Kitui County? 3. At which markets do farmers sell their mangoes after harvest? 4. Which prices do farmers get for different varieties and grades of mangoes? 5. Which agronomic management practices do farmers apply in mango cultivation? 6. What are the common pests and diseases that affect these mango farms?

Methodology The research was conducted in two sub-counties namely Kitui central and Mwingi west (Migwani) (see Figure 1) in Kitui county in Kenya. These two study areas were selected purposely due to the differences in marketing potentials. Both study areas have a processing plant, but the main difference is that Kitui central has a bigger processing plant than the one in Migwani. Based on a quarterly progress report submitted to Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) by the National Environmental Trust Fund (NETFUD) in 2014 in a project entitled ‘Enhancing Climate Resilience and Nutrition Uptake through the Fortification of Corn Flour with Locally Produced High Nutrition Value Crops’ nine villages were selected in total from these two sub-counties (Table 2). Villages were selected based on this report because STEP-UP project was continuing from where this project ended with regards to mango production upgrading. So, it was good to follow up on these farmers they started with. A list of mango farmers and the number of trees that these farmers own were obtained from sub-county agriculture offices and from the processing plant centers. Farms were classified into three types (based on experts’ knowledge) depending on the scale of mango production (number of trees); namely small scale (5 - 50 trees), medium scale (50 - 200 trees) and large scale (200 trees and above). Based on this classification, a total of 101 farmers were selected from the two study areas (sub counties) for interviews (50 and 51 farmers from Kitui central and Migwani). Selection of farmers were done randomly within each farm type (scale of production) in each village apart from the large-scale farmers which were selected on purpose due to their absence during interviews and also this farm type was smaller in number as compared to the other farm types. Approximately equal number of farm types were selected in each village where possible. During the interviews, basic information on the following were collected: (1) household composition and education of household members, (2) land holding, (3) livestock ownership, (4) assets, (5) housing, (6) source of income and (7) production orientation and detailed information about mango production such as number of trees, year of establishment, pest and disease management, mango yields, prices of mangoes, marketing and many more. During the survey (data collection), an android mobile device preloaded with structured questionnaires modified from RHoMIS (www.rhomis.org) was used. The software used for data collection was the Open Data Kit (ODK) mobile application that enhances the collection and entry of both qualitative and quantitative information from respondents. The ODK application had a GPS receiver which is inbuilt and was used to capture coordinates of the respondents’ household/location. This was done to ensure that those same households would be used to undergo further research during the period of the STEP-UP project. Data collected at the end of the interviews were uploaded to a survey web which is hosted by an online server. This data was later exported into excel format for data cleaning, coding and analysis.

Table 2. Names of villages and number of farmers that were interviewed in each village.

Number of farmers Sub-county Village Small scale Medium scale Large scale Total # of farmers Kamale 5 3 3 11 Kyanika 3 6 3 12 Ngengi 6 8 1 15 Kitui Central Wikililye 5 5 2 12 Kaiveti 2 2 3 7 Nzauni 6 4 2 12 Nzauni kea 8 1 0 9 Kyome 1 5 4 10 Migwani Itoloni 1 7 5 13 TOTAL 101

Data analysis Microsoft Excel was used for data cleaning, sorting and analysis. Basic analysis like means (averages) and percentages of farmers and number of mango trees we calculated. This was done using Microsoft excel.

RESULTS The average number of mango trees (both indigenous and grafted) for Kitui central is 104 trees and that for Migwani is 150 (Fig.4). There are a few outliers for Migwani and just one for Kitui. It should be noted that an extreme outlier was excluded in the graph for Migwani with a total number of trees of about 10,000. Results showed that 36% of farmers in both sub-locations are small scale; 44% and 38% are medium scale farmers and 20% and 28% are large scale farmers for Kitui central and Migwani respectively. We do not know the actual distribution of the largescale farm type since selection was done on purpose during interviews (Fig.5). It should also be noted that results presented in this research are influenced by the style of data collection and not full representation for the whole of Kitui county.

Figure 4. The spread of total number of mango trees among individual farmers. NB: # of respondents, Kitui central=50 and Migwani =50

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 Kitui central 15 10 Migwani % of % of farmers 5 0 Small scale(5-50) Medium scale(50- Large scale(200 200) above) Number of mango trees (Scale)

Figure 5. The three different groups of mango farms (small, medium, and large scale) and the percentage of farmers within these range in both sub-location (Kitui central and Migwani). NB: # of respondents, Kitui central=50 and Migwani =51

In both sub locations the total number of indigenous trees grown were almost the same (Fig. 6) with Migwani (260 trees) slightly above Kitui central (236 trees). For the grafted mangoes (Fig. 6), Migwani recorded a higher number (7219 trees) as compared to Kitui central (4985 trees). While all farmers in both sub-locations grow grafted mangoes only 40% and 39% of farmers said they grew indigenous mangoes in Kitui central and Migwani respectively (Table 3).

8000

7000

6000

5000

4000 Kitui central Migwani 3000

Number Number of mango trees 2000

1000

0 Indigenous mango grafted mango

Figure 6. Number of indigenous and grafted mango trees per sub-location. NB: # of respondents, Kitui central=50 and Migwani =50

Table 3. Mean number of trees for both indigenous and grafted mango trees per farm and percentage of farmers who grow these mango types.

Indigenous Mango Grafted Mango Average Average number of number of Sub-location % of farmers trees/farmer % of farmers trees/farmer Kitui central 40 12 100 99

Migwani 39 13 100 144

Mango variety Apple was grown most by farmers in both sub-locations (Fig.7). About 96% of farmers in both locations said they grow this variety. The average number of trees per farmer of this Apple variety recorded were 91 and 102 trees in Kitui central and Migwani respectively.

120

100

40 Kitui central % of farmers %of 20 Migwani 0

Mango Variety

Figure 7. Grafted mango varieties and the percentage of farmers who grow these varieties in each sub-location.

120

100

40 Kitui_central 20 Migwani

0 Average # of trees/farm of # Average

Mango variety

Figure 8. Average number of trees per mango variety in each sub-location.

Different mango varieties were recorded to be harvested in different months (Table 4). The main harvesting months are between November to March for most varieties like Apple, Ngowe, Tommy Atkins. Kent is a late maturing variety which is usually harvested between April and June.

Table 4. Five main mango varieties in both sub-locations (Kitui central and Migwani) and the various months in which they are normally harvested.

Mango Variety Time of harvest

1 Apple January-March

2 Kent April- June

3 Ngowe February- March

4 Tommy Atkins December-February

5 Van - dyke November-January

In general, 57% of farmers sell their mangoes on farm. This means that middle men (broker) travel with their transportation to mango farms to buy their mangoes. Farmers do not have to transport mangoes to the market from the farms in this case (Fig. 9). About 33% of farmers sold their mangoes at the local market, 8% at collection center, only 2% sold their mangoes for export market. It should be noted that some farmers also had two or more modes of sales.

A B

Figure 9. Percentage mode of sales for each sub-location (Kitui central, A and Migwani, B) and the overall % mode of sales (C).

Farmers sold mangoes for different prices based on quality (grades) and size (Table 5). Respondents said first grade mangoes are mangoes with high quality with regards to appearance and taste. There are no signs of black spots or disease infestation on the mango covering. Because they are expensive (25 KSH per kg) they are targeted for the export market. The second-grade mangoes are not so bad and sell for an appreciable price according to the farmers (15 KSH per kg). They mostly sold locally as well as the third-grade mangoes (10 KSH per kg). Its should be noted that the prices calculated were not variety based but a general price for grafted mango grades.

Table 5. Prices of different grades of mangoes based on quality.

Grafted mango Price Price grading (KSH)/kg (Euros)/kg First 25 0.22 second 15 0.14

Third 10 0.09

Above 80% of farmers were recorded to apply pruning, weeding and, pest and disease control in both sub-locations on their mango farm (Fig. 10). Manure application was done by 52% and 53% of farmers in Kitui central and Migwani respectively. Less than 13% of farmers were recorded to apply chemical fertilizers (only in Kitui central) and planting new mango seedling (both sub- locations). Results show that (fig.11A) above 60% of farmers often have their farms affected by common pests (fruit fly, seed weevil, Aphids, thrips, bugs and mites) in both sub-locations. Furthermore, not less than 90% of farmers (Fig. 11B) responded to have their farms affected by some common diseases (Anthracnose, powdery mildew and rots) in both sub-locations.

120

100

40 % farmers % Kitui central 20 Migwani 0

Management practices

Figure 10. shows the various management practices and the percentage of farmers who apply these practices.

Figure 11. Show the common pests (A) and diseases (B) and the % of farmers who get affected by them.

Table 5. List of chemicals that agrovets in Kitui central sell to mango farmers for pest and disease control (personal communication from 4 different agrovets)

Type of Chemical Quantity( Price(KSH) Price(Euros) chemical name ml)/20L /litre /litre Topnet 20 Topguard 15 Chariot 15 Fungicides Topaz 15 1500 -1700 14 -16 Profile 20 Prosper 15 2400 -2600 23 -25 Insecticides Verkotine 15 700 -1000 6 to 9 Amino spreader Golden leave 2 Stickers Intergra 4 3400-4000 33- 39

Fruitfly trap chemical Bactrolure 2 to Torula Track 1 satchet 300Ksh/piece 3/satchet NB: The fruitfly trap box cost 200ksh = 1.80 euros NB: Quantity (ml) per 20 liter means the amount of chemical to be measured for a 20liter pump spray tank. Prices of the various chemical is per liter of the mentioned chemical. Farmers complained about high prices of chemicals as it is seen in the table above

Discussion The average number of trees in Migwani was higher than that in Kitui central. This could have been because more large-scale farmers were present for interviews in Migwani than in Kitui central (meaning large-scale farm types were available in Kitui central but farmers were absent for interviews) (Fig. 5). While 100% of farmers were recorded to grow grafted mangoes in all sub- locations (Table 3), only 39% and 40% of farmers said they grew indigenous mangoes in Kitui central and Migwani respectively. The percentage of indigenous mangoes were low because farmers with these mango trees were converting it to grafted mango trees due to low or no demand for the indigenous mangoes. Farmers said these mangoes end up getting rotten during time of harvest due to lack of market for it. The percentage of farmers with indigenous trees is likely to reduce even further because almost all farmers who still have these indigenous trees at the time of interview promised grafting them sooner or later. In both sub-locations Apple mango variety was grown by most farmers (Fig. 7). Farmers also added that Apple mango variety was preferred for its sweet taste, juicy and colorful appearance this corresponded with Mango farming handbook finding in 2011, Kenya. Kent mango variety was recorded as the second variety grown by farmers most. Farmers who grew this variety said it is a late maturing variety (Table 4) and it mostly sells very well due to scarcity of other varieties at time of its harvest. Kent is usually bigger in size when compared to Apple which is much smaller (Muoki et al., 2009). The Apple mango variety recorded the highest average number of trees per farm in both sub- locations. This is in line with the fact that it was the variety preferred most by farmers in both sub-locations.

Farmers also sell their mangoes based on quality and size of the mango (Griesbach, 2003). Prices (ranges 5 to 7 KSH per piece approximately 0.05 to 0.06 cents (euros)) of grafted mangoes differed based on quality and size; different grades sold for different prices per kg (Table 5). Farmers reported that the first-grade mangoes (Table 5) were mainly targeted for the export market. While the export market is targeted by most largescale farmers, the small and medium scale farmers target the local market and on farm sales. The mode of sales of mango is mainly buyers coming to farm. This mode of sale represented 57% for both sub-locations in general. Farmers prefer this because it saves them the cost of transporting their mangoes to the market place when they sell on farm; transportation sometimes delays due to bad roads that lead to farm areas, which results in mangoes rotting on farm (Mutonyi et al., 2016). The percentage of farmers who applied various management practices barely differed between sub-locations. Mango production is affected by a variety of factors, of which pests and diseases are regarded to be the major constraints (Lux et al. 2003; Ekesi et al. 2010). The main insect pests and diseases that affect mango production are tephritid fruit flies (Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), Ceratitis cosyra (Walker) etc…) and Anthracnose and powdery mildew respectively (Lux et al. 2003: USAID-KHCP, 2013). Above than 60% of farmers reported to have been affected by common pest and diseases on their mango orchard in both sub-locations except for flies and termites (pests); and bacterial black spot

20 and rots (diseases) which recorded less than 40% of farms infected (fig.11). Almost all farmers said the attacks from these pests and diseases occur multiple times within the year. Farmers also complained of resistance of these pests and diseases to various chemical control methods. A few Agrovet shops (Table 7) were visited to find out the chemicals and fertilizers sold out to farmers for their mango orchard. It appeared that farmers only applied insecticides and fungicides to their mango orchards and that they hardly bought chemical fertilizers for their mango farm. Most farms complained about the high prices of the chemicals for spraying as well as the fruit fly trap.

CONCLUSIONS All farmers interviewed grew grafted mangoes but not all farmers grew indigenous mangoes. Farmers with indigenous mangoes sooner or later say they will convert trees to grafted mangoes because of lack of market for the indigenous mangoes in both sub-locations. Number of mango trees in Migwani exceeds that for Kitui central; this could have been attributed to the fact that more large-scale farmers were present for the interview in Migwani than there was in Kitui central. Apple mango variety is the most grown variety by most farmers in both sub-locations. Apple is the preferred mango variety by farmers because it fetches the highest price in the market and consumers like it for its sweet taste and juicy nature. The main months for harvesting most mango varieties are between November and March. The general preferred mode of sales of the mango fruits were through buyers coming to farm and local market. The most frequent management practice farmers applied in both sub-locations were pruning, weeding and pests and disease control. Greater percentage of farmers reported to have experience some common pests and disease attack on their farms. This they said occurred frequently within the year on their mango orchard. In conclusion this research has contributed to give some overview of the mango farming process in Kitui county as part of the objectives of the STEP-UP project. Knowing the different farm types, the type of mango varieties, the various challenges with regards to pests and diseases, marketing etc... will help inform STEP-UP for the way forward in relation to these variables in the next two to three years.

RECOMMENDATIONS Future questionnaires should be structured to include more elaborate or specific question; for example a question that involves mango prices could come with three different questions like a)what price do you sell your mango per piece, b)what price did you sell per Kg and c) how much did you make in total for your mango variety at the end of the season” etc.…. Interviewing large scale farmers was always not easy due to their absence; a more technical could be devised for instance getting in-touch with them weeks or even months before the start of interviews to be sure they can make some time for you out of their busy schedules to be interviewed. Getting a fair representation of all farm types will give a much better and clearer comparisons of results from different study locations.

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