KfW Executive Board member Christiane Laibach visits LIMBUA

Great joy in Kenya: Christiane Laibach, member of the KfW Development Bank's Executive Board, and her team started their journey from Germany and visited our LIMBUA site in Ena.

Together with Kristina Laarmann (Director KfW office Kenya), Barbara von Toll (DEG Regional Director East Africa) and Christoph Tiskens (KfW Director, East Africa and African Union), topics such as organic agriculture and local value creation were the focus of the visit. The visit gave us the opportunity to present directly on site how our work is having a positive impact on the region and how we can further expand our partnership with KfW DEG.

KfW DEG meets LIMBUA in Kenia

^{From left to right: Abigail Birech, Michael Langat, Kenneth Waweru, Kristina Laarmann (KfW), Christiane Laibach (KfW), Peter Wangara (LIMBUA Director), Barbara von Toll (DEG), Christoph Tiskens (KfW), Boniface Mutua, Ruth Imbahale}

Income from mixed farms: a look at the yields of smallholder farmers

A key topic during the visit of Christiane Laibach and her team was the income of smallholder farmers generated by mixed organic farming. Mixed farming enables farmers to generate a constant income by utilizing multiple income streams: the cultivation of cash crops such as macadamia nuts, avocados, mangoes and coffee is aimed at exporting the dried or processed products. The local sale of crops that are also grown or produced for their own consumption, such as bananas, milk and eggs from their own animals, is another source of income for the farmers to support their own subsistence.

Organic mixed farm

^{Organic bananas are one of the many agricultural products on an organic mixed farm}

The combination of different cash crops and food products distributes agricultural income opportunities across different products and harvesting periods.

The visitors gained insights into how the combination of export products, local sales and production for household consumption diversifies the income structure of smallholder mixed farms.

Important inputs – compost in organic agriculture

During their visit, Christiane Laibach and her team learned about the importance and costs of agricultural inputs. By far the most needed input for smallholder farmers is compost fertilizer. We explained that every farmer has a compost heap on his property and is actively supported by our agronomists in producing high-quality compost from materials available directly on the farm.

We also provided information about our compost project in Ena, where organic production waste is converted into compost for the LIMBUA smallholders and provided to them free of charge.

^{Compost is one of the most needed inputs on the organic mixed farms}

Organic smallholder Anisa: a look at a successful mixed farm

The warm visit with one of our LIMBUA smallholder women was undoubtedly one of the highlights of our time with the visitors. Her impressive farm is an agroforestry system with 15 different crops such as macadamia, avocado, mango, coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cassava, arrowroot and fodder crops (Napier grass), as well as cattle and chickens. On her farm, she combines 15 different crops with cattle and chicken farming. The compost produced on the farm is used to supply nutrients to the various crops and trees.

Anisa Kina Kivuti:

Has been a LIMBUA contract farmer since 2017
Runs the 2 acres organic farm full-time
Cultivation of 15 different organic crops (macadamia, mango, bananas, pumpkins, etc.)
She has, among other trees, 63 mature + 20 young macadamia trees, 2 mature + 22 young avocado trees
Widowed, three children
One of the sons is employed at LIMBUA
According to Anisa, her agricultural income has enabled her to finance, among other things, the construction of a stone house and her children’s education

^{Smallholder Anisa was visibly pleased to welcome the KfW DEG team from Germany}

Anisa also showed us her solar system, which she was able to purchase with the income from the sale of her harvest. The solar system provides electricity for lighting her house and powering a socket used, among other things, for her television.

Anisa's son, Christopher Kibara, works in the security department at our LIMBUA site in Githungururu. We are committed to employing as many young people and family members of smallholder farmers as possible at LIMBUA, thus enabling them to earn their own income in rural areas.

Intercropping in organic agriculture

The visit to Anisa also highlighted the importance of intercropping for the resilience of farms. By growing a variety of plants at different heights – from towering trees to fodder crops to coffee trees in between – an effective ground cover is achieved, healthy soils are supported and crop-specific pests and diseases are reduced.

The interaction between crops and animals creates an agricultural cycle between animal husbandry and crop production: manure from the cattle is used as fertilizer for the cultivated areas, while fodder crops grown on the farm are used to feed the animals.

^{Animals as part of the agricultural cycle on an organic mixed farm}

The cultivation of food serves both to supply Anisa’s family and to sell available surpluses. The agroforestry model, which combines fruit and nut trees with other native tree species, creates a pleasant microclimate and reduces the incentive to cut down income-generating trees compared to a tree plantation focused solely on timber production.

The importance of KfW Bank for LIMBUA

The KfW Bank, which also includes DEG (Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft), is committed to mobilizing public and private investment worldwide to meet the challenges of climate change, nature conservation and poverty reduction. Companies like LIMBUA, which promote ecological agricultural approaches and transparent working conditions, benefit from this support.

Christiane Laibach and a sprouted macadamia nut

^{Christiane Laibach inspects a macadamia seedling in the tree nursery}

The Impact Connect program is active globally and provides loans to German and European companies for development-related investment projects in numerous countries. This supports innovations in areas such as renewable energy and organic agriculture – central topics that we also address through our work in Kenya. The discussions and site visits highlighted the importance of supporting and further developing approaches such as mixed organic farming. Mixed organic farming combines different crops, household food production and various agricultural income sources on the same farm.

We are pleased to work with our partners at KfW DEG to further develop smallholder-based organic agriculture and local processing in Kenya.

Thank you for your visit, Christiane Laibach and team!

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