Tomatoes From Nowhere Nairobi Gal Gone Urban Farmer

African Urban Professionals & Rural Farming - (Agricultural Markets that Favour Africa)

Recycling my Kitchen water waste has become my new obsession, especially after seeing how it has slowing converted me into a horticulture farmer. Many farmers and medium traders have reached out to me asking if I could develop a horticultural market information website similar to my current one for dry agricultural commodity trade www.bettagrains.com. I toyed with the idea, but really lacked the incentive to do it, because I was not particularly trading in fresh produce. Yes, I have data on the horticulture but data without any street business smartness especially from the African informal market’s perspective was not enough motivation for me. I saw the need but lacked the incentive to develop the website.

Until one day as I was watering my mangoes and avocado seedings I noticed a tomatoes plant sprouting near my mangoes and avocado seedlings. Then a thought to myself, let’ssee what will happen, so I continued watering it along with my mangoes and avocado seedlings. Before long another tomatoes seedling sprouted, then another, then another, before I knew it I had tomatoes sprouting all over which I did not plant. Having tried to plant tomatoes and miserably failing in the past, I asked myself if this is something I really wanted to do. I figured why not perhaps there is a lesson to learn. Let’s see where this leads to.

Hi my name is Fostina FOSTINA last name Mani spelt MANI (www.fostinamani.com). I am the Global Trade Engagement Director at Betta Grains (www.bettagrains.com) am also the Founder of a market place called Mothers of Africa Mobile Soko (www.mothersofafricamobilesoko.com). I believe Africa can feed itself. I believe Africa can profit from agriculture trade. And that is why I am championing for an Agricultural Markets Revolution that favours Africa.

Well, the tomatoes did grow, and kept on growing. What I had not realized was the few seeds from my chopping board had found their way into my small garden through my recycled kitchen water. The tomatoes ignited an additional passion of playing around with different types of seeds. I ventured into passion fruit farming, the only problem was it was during the dry season, and both my husband and especially my mother-in-law did not seem to understand my logic. They gave me a lecture or two about how not to plant when it is not rainy season. However, seeing that I was raised in the city, they decided to humor my excitement and figured out I would soon find out for myself when my passion fruits dry up. In addition to the passion fruits, I also decided to plant mangoes, avocados, and pawpaw. I saw everyone’s one raised eyebrow, they simply had not seen my secret weapon, which was my kitchen water waste, not to mentions the very many plastic bottles I had been collecting, because as previously mentioned am extremely bothered by plastic bottles waste.

So, I planted my mangoes, avocadoes, and passion fruits. I had also carried water in plastic bottles, I was going to use the plastic bottles for drip irrigation by simply making a hole on the lid of the plastic bottle which I would turn upside down. I also incorporate the zai pits (planting pockets, or basins), so that water can last longer.

Africa is heavily dependent on rain feed agriculture, even though every homestead using a minimum of about 80 liters of water daily. Most of that water is used in the kitchen and in washing clothes. If each family would collect only 60 liters of kitchen waste daily, that is more than enough water to grow enough onions, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, and every type of food consumed in every homestead both during and after the rainy season. There is a myth that Africans believe. That soapy water will dry the seedlings. That is not true, I use both the water waste from both the kitchen and that used in washing clothes and am yet to see any seedling die. I hope you have enjoyed my story. Thank you for listening to me.