Oil Manufacturers Urge Farmers to Grow Oil Crops to Meet High Demand

Industrial manufactures of oils and detergents have made an appeal to small scale farmers to focus on growing oil crops in order to counter their unmet demand.

The Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) has indicated that the country has an unmet demand for sunflower, canola, soya bean and linseed for both industrial and domestic needs.

The call was made to smallholder farmers in Nakuru County to take up oil crop cultivation whose huge unmet demand guarantees a ready local and international market.

According to Dr Immaculate Njuthe, a member of the Nakuru County Executive Committee for Agriculture, the oil crops are drought resistant and adaptable to many ecological zones, Kenya is currently producing less than 50 percent of her needs.

“Kenyan manufacturers are grappling with huge deficits in the production of soya beans, canola, linseed and sunflower. Key players, who manufacture edible oils, have resorted to importing sunflower and soya bean from Tanzania and Uganda to sustain processing demand,” says Dr Maina.

The demand for canola, for example, skyrocketed when Baking, Cooking and Spreads, an associate of Unilever Limited, used it to process some of its products.

SNV Netherlands, Unilever East Africa and Agventure limited have formed a partnership that aids in training small scale farmers in Nakuru about better agricultural practices with a view to alleviating climatic effects. Agventure also buys the canola seeds from the farmers at 40 shillings a kilogram, while SNV provides funds for the project, Unilever buys canola oil processed by Agventure, which is also an international seed company.

Bidco Africa is also a giant company that has been struggling to get a supply of oil crops. Bidco has contracted over 25,000 small scale farmers in Nakuru and other parts of the country to grow sunflower and soya beans. The company indicates that it currently requires over 10,000 metric tonnes of sunflower and soya beans annually, but local farmers only supply an estimated 5,000 metric tonnes.

These crops also come with several advantages. The Nakuru County Assembly Agriculture Committee Vice Chairman, Wilson Mwangi states that most oil crops are used for rotational purposes and conservation farming. Oil crops have been found to reduce erosion, improve soil water retention and lead to fewer weeds, pests and diseases. Oil crop yields he says are 25 percent more compared to other crops.

“A farmer needs about 24,000 shillings to produce between 500kgs and 1000kgs of soya per acre-if well managed. Thus at least 12,000 shillings invested in an acre can yield between 300kg and 1,200kg of sunflower,” he says.

Cultivation of these oil crops would thus mean a great improvement in the livelihoods of these farmers as well as boost the country’s economy through the agricultural sector.

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