A cultural dancers’ group from Kangema, Murang’a County is in dire need of a market for their organically grown farm produce, which they say is rotting in their farms.
The Wanjerere cultural dancers’ women group produces highland arrow roots, fruits, traditional vegetables besides sensitizing the public through their dances on the need to embrace organic foods devoid of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
The group’s chairperson Elizabeth Muthoni observes that despite growing the best varieties of arrow roots, vegetables and fruits, their farm produce just rots away because there is no market.
“When we are not performing cultural dances in functions, we do organic farming and teach our people how to grow health foods including arrow roots that do not necessarily have to be grown on the river beds,” she says adding that highland arrow roots are easier to grow and manage.
The women group says they are currently incurring losses because there is no market for their produce which is already in surplus.
“If we would have a market for our produce, our lives will improve significantly and more people will access to the foods that we grow without fertilizers and pesticides. We will also be able to contribute to the country’s food basket” states Muthoni
At the same time, the group’s vice chairperson Diana Wanjiru urged people to embrace the traditional natural foods as that would help reduce some of the lifestyle diseases crippling the nation.
“Let us go back to our natural foods and organically produced ones because they are healthy as they are produced using sustainable farming practices that are better for the environment and for the health and well-being of animals and people,” she says
The group has called on the government and local administration to build for them a modern market from where they could sell their farm produce.
By Florence Kinyua
