Mushroom Farming in Kenya: How Profitable is it? Cost and Market Analysis

Not so many Kenyans have realized how lucrative mushroom farming is yet. It is a pretty impressive investment only a handful of the informed farmers in Kenya are getting into. The demand for the delicious and healthy fungi is soaring, which means that the current supply does not come close to being at par with the demand. This is actually the strongest factor causing the high prices of mushrooms in Kenya. 

As at June 2021, Zucchini Supermarket was selling a Kilo of button mushroom for almost KSh1,000.

Mushrooms for sale at Zucchini Supermarket

We actually gave the facts and figures about the mushroom demand in Kenya and the supply quantities that our farmers currently have in the article How To Make Money With Mushroom Farming In Kenya Throughout the Year 2021. The current prices are at an all-time high, simply because the mushroom market in Kenya is seriously undersupplied. So if you are looking for a side hustle that is probably going to pay more than your day job, mushroom farming is the way to go.

Mushroom farming in Kiambu: Richfarm Kenya

Most people ask why mushrooms are expensive, being a fungus. One of the reasons is that mushrooms, also known as the “fruit” of the fungi family, are rich in antioxidants, lean proteins and essential vitamins. The other reason is that mushroom farming is quite technical. The challenging manner of its growth, being that they don’t grow in soil, inhibits people from taking it on as a viable investment. This could be easily solved by a farmer getting the technical knowhow from the experts at Richfarm Kenya.

Investment and returns of mushroom farming in Kenya

The initial investment is on a basic minimum. Let us take oyster mushroom farming as an example, for this is the easiest variety to produce in Kenya. With 1 square foot of space, they could easily produce 10kgs in a year’s time. With the current wholesale price of ksh 400 per kilo, one is expected to make ksh 400,000 in turnover from a 10’ by 10’ space. A small space is needed for the mushroom growth. A garage will do just fine, and for those without one, a grass thatched mud house will do. Remember to register for our weekly mushroom training sessions so you can learn how to make a simple mushroom house.

All this talk may give you a notion that mushroom farming is a walk in the park that you would start now and boom! Reap the benefits tomorrow. This couldn’t be farther from the truth, since the investment could be quite bumpy. For example, the substrate needed ought to have been sterilized in the right conditions, failure to which, the seeds wither.

After harvesting, mushrooms become highly perishable, one therefore needs a ready market post-harvest. The fresh mushrooms usually contain around 90% water content. Drying them has proven to preserve their nutrients and flavor hence one could invest in some drying equipment so as to extend their shelf-life.

Mushroom Market in Kenya

There are many individual buyers of mushrooms in Nairobi and other big town. Most of them buy in wholesale prices and resell the products to hotels or supermarkets. So we suggest that you carry out a market survey as you start your mushroom production. Visit the local vegetable market and talk to a few wholesalers whether they would be willing to buy the mushrooms from you, once they are harvested. Inquire on the price they would be willing to buy for.

Invest in good packages, since the packaging system, goes a long way in maintaining the mushrooms’ freshness. One should indicate the contact details, as well as the farm’s location, so as to attract future customers. Make sure to only package the good quality produce.

Place placards in the local vegetable shops and around your neighborhood. Ask your customers to spread a good word about your mushroom business to their family and friends. Make sure to always emphasize all the nutritional benefits of the mushrooms.

Farmers’ market provides a great way for the farmers since they get to sell a large part of the harvest all at once. This is because market days attract large crowds, who are looking to buy from the locals. You only need to set up a booth and you’re ready to go.

On large scale farming, farmers should look for companies that are producing dietary supplements from plant extracts. As discussed earlier, mushrooms are great immune boosters. Email them on their respective websites with your information.

Now days, whatsapp groups offer a reliable platform for marketing your produce. Create a whatsapp group with your neighbors and update them when the produce is ready for sale. Share delicious mushroom recipes so as to entice people into cooking the mushrooms.

Mushroom farming training

In order to get the details and professional help on how to grow oyster and button mushrooms, it is advisable to visit some successful mushroom farmers in Kenya and learn from their experience. Richfarm Kenya also conducts a mushroom farming training every weekday and Saturday at their farm in Kamwangi, Kiambu. You can call them on 0724698357 to book a space for training.

How to Construct Multi-Storey Gardens, Increase Your Production and Support Food Security in Kenya

Multi-storey gardening is a farming technology that aims at producing more vegetables and fruits, so as to meet the rising food need in Kenya, while utilizing spaces such as home backyards.  The most suitable plants to grow in this system are kales, spinach, capsicum, eggplants, coriander and amaranths, strawberries just to mention a few. The use of multi-storey gardening is a step up from the sack gardening that was previously used by a majority of Kenyans.

Multi-storey gardens by Richfarm Kenya

One multi-storey garden has six layers, although some can go up to eight layers. Each terrace layer is filled with soil that is mixed with the less acidic goat manure with a 1:1 ratio. The top ring of the storey garden contains the top soil. The materials used in constructing the structure have a lifespan of up to 10 years, since they are ultra-heated prior to installation.

In a case where a farmer planted some vegetables that ended up failing, they should just uproot the plants and plant a fresh batch, without having to deconstruct the whole set-up. Inter-cropping a variety of vegetables is advised, as a way of pest control. Coriander and onions are a good pest repellents.

Each structure, occupies a one metre squared space. It then accommodates up-to 120 plants, depending on the type of fruit or vegetable planted. This proves to be more economical, when compared to the 10 plants that would be planted on the same space in the conventional way. The question is, will you grow only one type of vegetable per garden, or will you mix it up?

Aslo read: Strawberry Farming in Kenya: Why Just A Few Farmers Are Swimming In The Berry Millions

In addition to maximizing the available space, layering helps in minimizing evaporation, thus conserving irrigation water. The farmer will then need to water the crops for at most three days a week. Depending on the weather, one such structure will need a maximum of 20 litres of the irrigation water. Richfarm Kenya, a company that installs multi-storey gardens for people in Kenya, has an automated irrigation system for this gardening technology. This irrigation system does the irrigation for you at the specific time you set it to.

The best part of this setup is that the structures are not labour intensive, since there is no major weed control required. The structures can either be set up in the rural area, or in the urban setting, at the comfort of your balcony.

How to construct your own multi-storey garden

1. Identify your site. In the case of an urban set up, your own backyard or balcony will be ideal for the structure.
2. Collect the soil needed. Since the soil needed must be well-drained and free from pests and diseases, one does not need to necessarily use the soil that is readily available at the site you have identified. You can get the soil needed from a different place, then import it to your site. Note that getting you soil from a busy farm increases the risk of contamination.
3. Collect manure. As discussed earlier, the best manure to use is goat manure, since it is less acidic. It should be well decomposed.
4. Call Richfarm Kenya on 0724698357 to come and construct the multi-storey gardens and the automated irrigation system for you. They will bring all the materials and labour needed to complete your project and leave it running.

Depending on the crops that you want to grow, a farmer can plant the seeds directly or plant the seedlings from a nursery. In the case of strawberries, runners can be used as planting materials. You can still get strawberry runners of different varieties from Richfarm Kenya. If you fail to have the necessary knowledge on what and how to plant, make sure you contact an expert, so as to reduce the risks involved.

See also: StrawberryFarm Set Up Plan for ¼ Acre in Kenya 2020

Complete Guide for Mushroom Farming In Kenya For the Year 2025

Many people have lately realized what a potential we have in agribusiness in Kenya and have gone into some of the lucrative ventures in the country such as Kienyeji chicken farming, fruit farming and mushroom farming. The latter has specifically attracted many youth especially those in urban settings. There are obvious reasons as you will see in the discussions in this article.

A Mushroom farm in Kenya

The Mushroom Market in Kenya

Let me give you some facts about mushroom farming in this country that will stir your interest: according to the National Farmers Information Service (NAFIS), our country produces only 500 tons of mushrooms per year yet the demand just within the country is 1200 tons.

Do you know what that means? The consumers of mushrooms in our country have to import at least 700 tons every year. Such a high and undersupplied demand only means one thing: there is huge ready market for mushrooms, making its farming a huge business opportunity as well.

We have actually written on the cost involved in mushroom farming in Kenya and how profitable the venture is in this article: How Profitable is Mushroom Farming in Kenya: Costs and Market Analysis

Mushroom Farming Requires only a small space

Another fact that will excite you about mushroom farming is that you do not need several acres of land to make a good income. In Kenya, some farmers are actually turning their backyards and even garages into   mushroom farms, and confess that they make way more than what they did from their large scale farming of other crops.

But well, it’s not all easy money and overnight success as the foregoing statements might make it sound. To start a solid business in mushroom farming, one needs to invest in a number of things. Let’s take you through these things; we shall be glad to clarify anything that doesn’t come out clearly later. You can always Call Richfarm Kenya or Whatsapp us on 0724698357.

Mushroom Growing House Design and Requirements

So the first investment you need to make is building a mushroom growing house. It’s not really costly: in fact, all you need is a simple mud-house with a grass thatched roof. This can be done the very traditional way of using posts and sticks to build the wall structure then fill it up with mud or you can do it as we did using earthen bricks as shown below.

 

Mushroom farming house

Once the house is complete, you need to make shelves. We chose to use wood and off-cuts since these are readily available and cheap materials. These shelves are used hold the mushroom growing bags. Now that’s where the science starts- the bags!

You Can Prepare or Buy Ready Mushroom Growing Bags

Mushroom growing bags are simply plastic bags filled with a material called a substrate. The substrate is specially prepared using agricultural remains. Basically, anything grown on land is a potential substrate for mushroom cultivation. One may use rice husks, dry banana leaves or coconut waste. Anything from the legume family, such as bean waste, is great because of the nitrogen content. Most commercial mushroom farmers in Kenya use hay, wheat straw or rice husks. Its preparation process is a bit detailed; I cannot cover it in this article but you can always reach us by email or Whatsapp for help in that.

Mushroom Growing Bags already filled with substrate

We have also designed a special course for you that will focus on training you on how to make compost. These trainings will teach you how to reduce your costs in mushroom farming, specialize in the best variety of mushrooms, and take your mushroom farming business to a professional level. These trainings will take place once every month at our mushroom farm in Banana starting March 2025. 

Where To Buy Spawns - The Mushroom Seeds

Next are the spawns, or the mushroom seeds. These seeds can only be bought from a professional propagator so as to be sure you get clean, non-contaminated material. On average, 1 kg of spawn will cost ksh 600 and would be enough for approximately 40 standard size bags. These seeds are introduced in the bags filled with the substrate and all a farmer does from there on is simply maintain the recommended moisture levels in the bags and the growing house, and wait to start harvesting: no weeding, no spraying pesticides and fungicides and no working under a scorching sun!

Wholesale Mushroom Prices in Kenya

Due to the crop’s lower cost of production and the high yielding capacity, mushrooms present a good opportunity for small to middle-scale farmers. A kilo of mushroom retails at between Ksh 400 and Ksh 600. This high profit margin means that you will take a shorter time to break even and eventually make profits.

There are a total of fifteen different cultivated mushrooms varieties in the world. A farmer may need to know the various types in order to make the right decision when investing in this sector. The most common ones in Kenya are button and Oyster mushrooms. There are exotic mushrooms that can be grown, often for medicinal use, but they require more skills to grow and knowledge of the markets to find buyers.

The best mushroom variety to grow in Kenya

Button mushrooms are quite popular and readily available. The downside is that they are prone to diseases and infections. Oyster mushrooms on the other hand, are hardier and more resistant to infections. Besides, substrates for button mushrooms are prepared and cultured a month ahead. For oyster mushrooms, you can pasteurize your substrate today and introduce the spawns the following day.

The mushrooms are best when freshly picked, so most are sold to local consumers. After they are harvested, they are delivered to local chefs, food co-ops, grocery stores and directly to consumers at the local market.

Challenges

One of the things that can eat into your profits is firewood for pasteurization, which is costly. If one fails to pasteurize properly, the fungi develops mould and that’s a loss. The good thing is that you can buy ready bags of professionally prepared substrate, already spawned (the mushroom seeds already sowed) from Richfarm Kenya.

Harvesting and Marketing

Once ready, mushrooms are harvested consistently twice or thrice a week. Mushrooms have a high demand in Kenya but of course, you have to seek this market. That simply involves informing potential buyers, mostly hotels and supermarkets, of your products. You will get very nice orders especially if you can prove to them that you will be a consistent supplier.

We hope you make it big in mushroom farming in Kenya. However, there are a few other interesting farming ventures that can suit you, having only a small scale. These include:

• Multistorey garden farming
• Strawberry farming
• Dragon fruit farming
• Chicken farming

Avocado Farming: How To Get the Highest Yield Per Acre in Kenya

Avocado Farming in Kenya and the Market Outlook

Avocado farming in Kenya, as well as around the globe, is gaining prominence, mostly because of the nutritious benefits of the fruit. The fruit is gaining popularity as a healthy super food and as such, the annual global demand is increasing at a faster rate than the annual global supply. This results in the fruit fetching high prices on the world market. See what Juan Escorcia from Avocados Aguirre says in this article: Demand For Kenyan Avocado Continues to Climb: The Issue Right Now Is Providing a Continuous Supply.

Despite the increase in the prices, the fruit’s demand continues to grow. Kenya has become the 6^th largest producer of avocados in the world and as such, there is a great deal of talk and action around avocado farming in Kenya. Even the government is making a lot of efforts to retain our reputation for good quality and sustainable production for both domestic and global market. 

You can read: Murang’a County Makes Bill To Protect Avocado Farmers

Hass avocado Farming in Kajiado, Kenya

Avocado farming is a long-term project that takes 2 years for the trees to come into production. To reap healthy rewards, a farmer needs to adopt specific practices so as to maintain a healthy plantation that yields top production for many years.

Some of the requirements needed so as to get the highest yield in Kenya include;

Cool temperatures

Hass Avocados are generally bigger in cool areas that are in altitudes between 1000m to 2000m, as compared to warm areas. The optimum temperature is 20 to 24 degrees Celsius. Hot, dry weather may cause the Hass Avocado fruit to drop prematurely. Although avocados are fairly resistant to drought, well distributed rainfall of 1000mm - 1200mm is needed for proper crop development. Avocados also hate wind. This is because the trees have very brittle branches that snap off easily. This explains why the highlands of Kiambu, Muranga and Kisii have been considered as the ideal places for hass avocado farming in Kenya.

Irrigation

Hass avocado plants require about 25mm water per week. The main roots are very shallow, thus drip or micro sprinklers are best suited for the plants. The farmers should have enough water all year round; without water, avocado trees can dry up fast. The irrigation water quality should be tested for pH, since high salts, sodium and chloride have a negative effect on the plants. A diligent farmer will invest in soil moisture monitoring system, so as to ensure water is evenly distributed throughout the root area.

Cultivation Requirements

Land preparation

This should be similar to the preparation of land for the other crops. In the case that it’s a newly cleared land, a farmer is advised to plant an annual crop for example, maize, peas or watermelon so as to achieve a good tillage of the cleared land. In the case of strong winds, ensure that there are necessary wind breakers such as hedges are in place.

Planting materials

Avocados can be grown from either seedlings or from the seeds. However, Hass avocados, which are preferred in the export market, are best grown from grafted seedlings. Grafting improves the variety by increasing its resistance to diseases, hence increasing the yield and increases its adaptability to various soils. The seedlings should be inspected by a professional so as to ensure that they are free from diseases. If you want to be sure you are getting high quality grafted hass avocado seedlings, buy them from Richfarm Kenya nurseries. 

Certified grafted hass avocado seedlings at Richfarm Kenya nursery

Planting holes

The standard spacing for grafted hass avocado in Kenya is 5 by 5 meters. With this spacing, 150 avocado trees can be planted in an acre. However, tree spacing within the line can range from 3m to 5m while the space between the lines should be at least 5m and at most 7m. The best practice is to dig the holes in a straight line. This will make tending to the trees and harvesting easy. 

The holes should be at least 2 feet but can be up to 1m deep. Soil samples should be taken when digging the holes, while being careful not to mix the topsoil with the subsoil. Send the samples to a legitimate soil testing center for pH testing.

Planting

The farmer should use two buckets of farmyard manure properly mixed with the topsoil, 250gm of double superphosphate fertilizer, and a certified insecticide to fill the planting holes. Planting should be after the onset rains when the rainwater has properly penetrated the soil. Irrigate the newly planted seedlings until the first shoots appear. Sometimes, the young grafted hass avocado seedlings might need to be tied up with sticks to support them.  

Mulching

A thick organic mulch is recommended in young plants so as to reduce evaporation off the soil and prevent very high and low root temperatures and salinity build up. The mulch also reduces weed competition.

Pruning

Pruning starts at the planting stage when shoots from the rootstock of the grafted seedlings are removed in order to redirect all the growing energy to the top part. It is also done before flowering and upon completion of harvesting. Pruning allows light to penetrate the orchard, improves yield and provides a superior tree structure. We have extensively explained avocado pruning in this article: How to Prune and Train Avocado Trees for Maximum Production

Thinning

This involves removing some of the already formed fruits so as to reduce competition for nutrients. I know it’s a painful thing for a farmer to pluck off fruits that have already formed. However, it is necessary to do so in order to have a number of fruits that can be perfectly supported by the tree to grow to the desired large size.

Pests and Diseases

Prevention is the most efficient and economical method of pest and disease control. These measures include weed control, proper fertilizer application, maintaining optimum plant density and proper selection of planting materials.

Also read: 

1. How To Grow Avocados In Kenya For Export

2. How Avocado Farming In Kenya Is Influenced By Global Supply

3. Avocado Farming in Kenya Gets a Boost as China Slashes Duty on Kenya Avocadoes

If you need any help on avocado farming and to get high quality grafted Hass avocado seedlings, call Richfarm Kenya on 0724698357. 

Make sure to also visit our Farmer's Resources Page to download a full guide on avocado farming in Kenya: it's free for download and you are also allowed to share the pdf file.

Keep yourself updated

The avocado industry is interesting and exciting with new markets, opportunities and products coming up everyday. We keep you updated on all these developments on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Follow us so you don't miss a thing. Here are the links.

Strawberry Farm Set Up Plan for ¼ Acre in Kenya 2020

Since our strawberry farming story went up on YouTube early this year (2020), we have received numerous requests to share a simple plan for setting up a small but commercial strawberry farm. So today we are happy to share with you this simple, realistic and executable plan that you can implement immediately.

We have done our best to keep the figures as conservative as they can get. However, keep in mind that costs and prices might change over time and in different locations. These figures were developed for strawberry farming in Kenya in 2020.

For this plan, we shall considering an available space of ¼ of an acre. For such space we suggest that we use multi-storey garden technology as shown below. This will help us to maximize on this space since it is an intensive farming system.

Strawberry Multilevel gardens

Farm Set-up

The farm can fit at least 150 of the proposed gardens each occupying a 2x2 meter space and allowing for walk paths in between them.

These gardens are 6-tier and will each accommodate at least 120 plants. Therefore, with this setup, we shall have a total of 18,000 plants.

The plants will be watered through a special drip irrigation system with a maximum of 2 control points for ease of operation. An automatic timer will also be installed if you are willing.

These garden structures will be filled with the locally available soil at the centre of each tier and a mixture of red soil and animal manure in the crop rooting area.

This farm model has the following advantages:

1. We will be able to fit a much higher number of plants in the space than we would have ordinarily done if we planted on the ground – only 4,000 plants would have fit on a quarter an acre.
2. A small amount of red soil and manure will be used since these will only be placed on the rooting sections of the plants.
3. The need for weeding and mulching will be brought to the minimum.
4. The set up allows for high water efficiency and low off-surface evaporation thus bringing the cost of water to the bare minimum.
5. The fruits will be hanging on the sides of the garden tiers thus helping us to achieve very clean fruits.

Projected costs

The cost of setting up the farm is projected to be as follows:

Item	Cost
20 tons manure	40,000
1 tipper red soil	20,000
Multi-storey gardens set-up (150 gardens)	300,000
Irrigation system set up	162,000
18.000 Strawberry seedlings (Chandler variety)	270,000
Consultancy fees	20,000
Total	812,000

 

The cost of running the farm is as follows:

Item	Cost
Monthly Irrigation cost	7,200
Crop protection and feeding per month	4,000
Labour Monthly	10,000
Total	21,200

 

Projected returns

The project shall have a minimum of 18,000 plants. Each plant bears a minimum of 1 kg of fruits per year. Therefore the farm is projected to yield 18,000 kg of fruits per year. These are 72,000 punnets of 250 grams each. Selling each punnet at Ksh 50, the farm will have a turnover of Ksh3,600,000 per year.

Number of plants	18,000
Annual Yield per plant (kg)	1
Total yield (kg)	18,000
Total farm yield (punnets)	72,000
Price per punnet (Ksh)	50
Annual turnover (Ksh)	3,600,000

Given the projected costs and income, the farm should break even within the first year of operation.

How to start

Now that you have the facts and the figures, we would love to help you start your strawberry farm immediately. You can call us on 0724698357. 

Macadamia Market in Kenya And in The Export Market 2021

Macadamia Market Updates

The year 2020 was the worst for macadamia farmers in Kenya, obviously because of the Covid19 pandemic that affected logistics and markets worldwide. Macadamia nuts prices in Kenya went down to the lowest in the recent past, with the companies that remained operational buying in-shell nuts for as low as Ksh40 per kilo. 

Now the Covid restrictions have eased up in many countries and the distribution channels are finally resuming so we expect that the macadamia business to recover as global markets reopen. Prices are also expected to rise to an all time high considering that the market was seriously underserved last year. 

Macadamia Production in Kenya vs the Market Demands

Macadamia farmers in Kenya are currently producing just about 42,000 tonnes of in-shell nuts, according to the Nut Processors Association of Kenya (NutPAK). This constitutes only 20% of the global supply.

However, there is a remarkable growth in the production volumes, something that has earned Kenya recognition and the chance to host the 9th International Macadamia Symposium in August 2021.

This event which brings together major industry players from all over the world is held after every 2 years. During the last even that was held in 2019, the symposium’s message to all macadamia nuts producing countries was to scale up production in order to meet the growing demand in the world market.

Small Scale Macadamia Farmers Play an Important Role in Production

In Kenya, the majority of macadamia nuts are produced by small scale farmers mainly in Embu, Muranga, Meru and other parts of central. The country currently has over 200,000 small scale producers of the nuts.

A well done macadamia tree plantation

The production capacity of these farmers is still very low and does not even meet the local demand. While we had only 4 macadamia nut processors in Kenya in the year 2009, we now have 30 such established factories.

According to NutPAK, the processors in the country currently have the capacity to process 90,000 tonnes of in-shell nuts. That means they are forced to operate at only 50% of their capacity due to lack of supplies.

Read Also:

Macadamia Prices in Kenya to Possibly Climb Over Ksh 200 Per Kg In 2020

The harvesting season is set to start in February and the already lucrative macadamia farming agribusiness sector has all indications of rewarding...

Increasing Macadamia Nut Production in Kenya

In an effort to fill this supply gap, several organizations have come up to support the small scale farmers of macadamia. For example, the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) is planning to supply at least 3 million macadamia seedlings to small scale farmers in the country.

The areas targeted by this effort are those that have traditionally not been producing the nuts but have conducive climate for their growth. These include Uasin Gishu, Taita Taveta, Elgeyo Marakwet and Nandi Counties.

De-shelled Macadamia Nuts Have Great Demand

Kenyan macadamia are mainly exported to China, Europe and America. Since the year 2009 when the government banned the export of in-shell nuts, the country has been processing all its produce and before taking it to the market. China is a major importer of the Kenyan nuts with an ever increasing demand.  

Read Also:

Macadamia Is the Cash Crop to Farm in Kenya in 2020 and Beyond

A few years back, no one could imagine that macadamia farming in Kenya would one day be as rewarding as it is now. A few macadamia trees...

The demand for the macadamia nuts has been increasing a lot over the past years, according to Marco Russo, managing director of Macadamia Brazil, a company that exports both in-shell and deshelled nuts from Brazil. “There is currently more demand than production, but it is difficult to quickly increase the volumes for the macadamias in order to meet this increasing demand. The macadamia trees take up to eight years to mature and reach optimum production, so it is really a long-term investment.”

The price for in-shell macadamia nuts hit Ksh 200 a kilo last harvesting season and this has encouraged more farmers to take care of the trees they have an plant more in order to increase production. AFA projects that with proper support, macadamia production in Kenya will reach 61,000 tonnes in the next 5 years.

With the projected future of the crop, macadamia farming is a great way to invest for your future. If you would like to invest in it and you need support, call or email us any time through the contact us page.