Self-help groups given Sh510m for mushroom farms

 

In a year, the Mt Kenya Umbrella Self-Help Group makes Sh120,000 from the sale of button mushrooms and Sh165,000 from the oyster variety. Dried oyster mushrooms are expensive, with a kilo being sold at Sh1,200 while the button variety is sold fresh for Sh400 a kilo. Photo/FILE  Nation Media Group

By BONIFACE MWANGI
Three self-help groups from Mathira East district have come together to enrich mushroom farming with the aim of diversifying their diet and earning more income.

The Mt Kenya Umbrella Self-Help Group from Ragati location, which had 62 members in 2008, obtained Sh120,000 under the government’s Njaa Marufuku programme as the initial capital.

According to the group’s chairman, Mr Paul Muchiri, members grow mushrooms alternately to ensure that they meet market requirements.

The group grows two types of mushrooms: Oysters and Button. Button seedlings are more expensive, with a kilogramme going for Sh20,000; while the oyster variety costs Sh5,000 per kilogramme. The mushrooms are planted and harvested twice per year.

“After the first harvest the substrate is flushed twice before we can sow other seedlings. However, the two final flushes do not give as much produce as the first one,” said Mr Muchiri.

In a year, the group makes Sh120,000 from the sale of button mushrooms and Sh165,000 from the oyster variety. Dried oyster mushrooms are expensive, with a kilo being sold at Sh1,200 while the button variety is sold fresh for Sh400 a kilo.

After making their sales in Karatina, Nairobi, and Nakuru, profits are shared among group members with a member getting between Sh3,000 and Sh4,000.

The payment, said Mr Muchiri, depends on the quantity we harvest and the market price which fluctuates from time to time.

The greatest challenge the group faces while marketing their products is middlemen who exploit them by buying their mushrooms at a low price.

But this will soon be a thing in the past after Mr Robert Godec, the acting US ambassador to Kenya, gave the group Sh510,000 to support their value addition efforts.

The money was given under the US embassy’s self-help fund which seeks to support sustainable, income-generating projects in Kenyan communities.
Besides the grant, the group also benefited from mushroom grinding and drying machines, and a fridge.

Mr Muchiri said that they would use the equipment to add value to their mushrooms. “We have been losing a lot of money since we do not add any value to our produce. I am sure that members will be happy and motivated from the good earning they will be getting,” said Mr Muchiri.

He said that they would sell their products directly to consumers as well as big supermarkets.

They also plan to put up three additional production units per member group.

Increase production 
source:Business Daily