January - June 2008 - Kenya Agricultural Research Institute

The team visited Wilmar to see how the flowers were
handled before export. Rosavie provided some finished
flower products for viewing. The media team saw various
stages of handling Mobydick after the flowers (bolls) were
harvested. The farmer harvests and sorts the flowers for
pest damage, length and colour among other quality
attributes. The cut flowers are then taken to the buying
centre nearby where they are graded into 1 st , 2 nd and other
grades depending on the flower type. During the visit,
the rate of rejection was high. Farmers were informed why
the flowers were rejected and suggestions of nutritional
or crop protective remedy were given by the buyer. Cut
flowers are taken to the godown for various treatments
before export. Mr. Kamami the CEO of Wilmar, conducted
the media team around the premises. The main market
destination for the cut flowers is the Allsmeer Auction in
the Netherlands.
The project has demonstrated that indeed flower
farming is profitable to the smallholder growers. Field
grown flowers require low financial and technological
Farmers inspect flowers grown by Githunguri Sapewe Self
Help Group
input but are labour intensive. The labour intensive nature
of horticulture makes both the old and young people
gainfully occupied. Cut-flowers do not require a large area
and in some areas this should be seen as a solution to the
shrinking land sizes. The project should be up scaled to
other areas where flower growing has a potential.
KARI Packages Dissemination Materials for New Technologies
By Koinange T. Mukundi and Geoffrey M. Kamau, KARI Headquarters
... Just like the Safari Rally which tests car durability and provides manufacturers with feedback, technology brochures need
pre-testing … (Dr E. Mukisira)
The above were the words of the Director KARI when
opening a four-day write-shop for KARI scientists
on 6 th May, 2008 at the Agriculture Information
Resource Centre, Kabete. He challenged the 31
participating scientists from ten KARI centres to develop
information packages for released agricultural
technologies in order to catalyze uptake and adoption by
the farming communities. The Director noted that
scientists must strive to move the country forward by
responding to demands of the farmers and other
stakeholders. He observed that extension materials are
vital because they help technology users to understand
and use them as prescribed. He indicated that KARI would
like the researchers on the ground to prescribe the
specifications involved in particular technologies that
make them work best for the farmer and the country. The
Director advised the organsers to ensure that user
feedback is captured appropriately during the pretesting
process. Besides catalysing the adoption process, the
scientists will also benefit from points awarded in the
scientists’ evaluation, the Director added on these
publications.
Dr Mukisira noted that such information would assist
to backstop technologies as take-away information for
Farmer field schools, Farmer Research groups, Agricultural
Shows and is an important pathway of enhancing
technology transfer and adoption. He recalled that KARI
had successfully used Agricultural Technology and
Information Response Initiative (ATIRI), with and now
DSU (KAPP) as pathways of delivering information to
farmers. He said KARI plans to establish a strong outreach
division to proactively possess technology information
to the public and challenged the participants to embrace
Highlighter No. 23
a culture of communicating technology information as
soon as it is available. The Director pledged continued
support to researchers to ensure full production of these
vital information materials.
Speaking in the same function, the Director of AIRC,
Ms. Grace Agili, welcomed researchers and added that
developers of technologies were best placed to advise
on how they should be used for maximum benefit. She
further emphasized the vital place of Agriculture in the
development of the country. She cited a few of the
constraints the sector was experiencing as moisture stress
occasioned by low and unpredictable rainfall and
welcomed the researchers to feel free to contribute to
dissemination of information.
The second write shop held from 9 th to 13 th June
attended by 32 scientists from 12 research centres at the
same venue was opened by the Deputy Director Dr. J.G
Mureithi who reiterated the Directors opening words. He
stressed on the importance of clarity of the communication
between the researchers and farmers. He pointed out that
the write-shop was an important event that would go
towards adding onto the past efforts in making the
institute visible to the users and the taxpayers who are
thirsty for this information. He emphasized on the
importance of acquiring continuous feedback not only
through pre-testing but also during the technology
utilization stage. He also commended the task force
members for their tireless efforts in the organization of
the write shops.
A total of 80 brochures covering technologies
produced and packaged by most KARI programmes were
developed. Pretesting has already started in various KARI
centres pending final printing.
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