As greenhouse farming picks up in Kiambu and countrywide, Dorothy Mwaura is already reaping from the agricultural practice, which is transforming landscapes.
The 58-year-old mother of four is a strawberry farmer who started producing them against what was the norm.
“Instead of planting flowers as the norm, I decided to plant strawberries,” said the grandmother of five.
“I got into strawberry farming in a quest for the best fruits that could work for my stomach problem and also to keep my family healthy. Strawberries serve as flowers and fruits. People often asked me what flowers I had planted but they were amazed once they saw the berries.”
Five years down the line, she grows strawberries in a greenhouse for commercial purposes at her home in Kiambu. She is one of the successful strawberry farmers in Kiambu, influencing others to try the nutritious berry.
Mwaura says that a quarter kilogramme of strawberries costs between Sh80 and Sh100 depending on clientele. She is specialising in seed production and is the main supplier of strawberry seeds to farmers in Kiambu.
“One split costs between Sh30 and Sh35. If only 25 out of 100 splits mature, a farmer must not be discouraged,” she added.
Most strawberries go for as long as three seasons and after that you plant new seedlings. Each harvest is, however, different and it tends to reduce each year.
Her advice to farmers is: "You cannot invest when your family is hungry. The first market is your health, anything else you sell is and should be the excess. That is how we reduce poverty in our country as envisioned in the Vision 2030 blueprint."