Greenhouse and drip irrigation: Farmers reduce crop loss and increase market days.

Malava, Kakamega County

The rains stopped coming on time.

In Malava, fifteen farmers cultivate maize, beans, kales, and tomatoes on their small plots. Most weeks, they were just managing to feed their families, and selling at the Malava Market felt more like a bonus than a sure thing. The issue wasn’t their hard work; it was all about timing. They were at the mercy of the rains, unable to water their crops when they needed it the most.

They decided to enroll for our training sessions, which focused on two key areas: how to size a solar pump for their water tank and how to calculate effective irrigation schedules. They discovered that running a pump for just one hour at dawn minimizes water loss due to evaporation, compared to running it for two hours at midday. They also learned to test soil moisture by touch rather than guesswork, no complicated bookkeeping, just straightforward water physics and plant biology.

After completing the training, they applied for a loan which they used to purchased a greenhouse and a drip irrigation system that connected to their existing 5,000-litre water tank. The greenhouse arrived in just two weeks, but the drip lines took an extra ten days because the first batch of pipes didn’t fit.

Now, they’re reaping double the harvest compared to before. The greenhouse shields their tomatoes from the heavy rains that used to split the fruit, and the drip system delivers water directly to the roots instead of the leaves, which has reduced fungal diseases by over half. They’re still monitoring their first full year with the new setup, but their trips to the market have increased from once a week to twice.

Loan: Group Enterprise Loan – KES 180,000 at 9.5% over 12 months
Green tech: Greenhouse + drip irrigation
Circular economy: Crop residue composting + household vegetable waste collection