Steven Njoroge is an amaranth farmer from Juja Farm, one of the fastest developing areas within the Nairobi Metropolitan area.
He ventured into commercial farming after moving his family from Nairobi where they lived for many years.
In a recent interview, Njoroge explained that he settled on growing amaranth as it matures faster and has a ready market.
Here is his story as told by WoK.
Njoroge and his family owns a quarter of an acre in Juja Farm.
Following his decision to move his family from Nairobi, he rented an extra three-quarters of an acre to practice farming.
In an interview with Farmers Trend, Njoroge noted that he was keen on growing a crop that could comfortably sustain himself and his family.
As such, the small scale farmer settled on amaranth, widely known as terere, which matures faster and it has a ready market.
“I usually harvest more than 1,000 kilogrammes of amaranth leaves in only a quarter of an acre. I don’t wait for long as the leaves are usually ready for harvesting after four weeks,” he said.
Njoroge noted that he went for amaranth farming since it has become one of the hidden treasures foe farmers.
For instance, compared to maize where farmers get between 900Kg to 1,200Kg per acre, they can harvest 2,000Kg to 5,000Kg of amaranth grains.
While a kilogram of maize goes for Ksh 50, amaranth farmers sell a kilo of the grains at Ksh 70 to as high as Ksh 150.
“I used to have crowded plants and low yields. But since I started spacing my crops, leaves of my vegetable amaranth increased and my yields doubled, moving from 5,00 to 1,000 kilograms,” Njoroge said.
The nutrients in amaranth can offer significant health benefits as a part of a healthy diet.
It’s a source of vitamin C, which is vital to the body’s healing process because it helps process iron, form blood vessels and repair muscle tissue.
The vegetable is a good option for people with a reaction to wheat gluten, and one of the richest plant forms of protein.
Amaranth is also rich in antioxidants, including gallic acid and vanillic acid, and slows down the body’s production of immunoglobulin E, reducing inflammation.
