PROJECT

PROPOSED INTEGRATED SUNFLOWER-APICULTURE

ORGANIC FARMING ENTERPRISE

PROPOSED LOCATION: KIAMAKUMI VILLAGE, MBETI SOUTH

LOCATION, GACHURIRI DIVISION,
MBEERE SOUTH SUB-COUNTY, EMBU
COUNTY, KENYA.

PROJECT DURATION : 24 MONTHS

GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENSION : 19.5 HA

TOTAL FUNDING REQUESTED :Kshs.9,618,345

COST-SHARE CONTRIBUTION : Kshs.1,697,355

APPLICANT DETAILS

MR. STEPHEN MBOGO NYAGA

LAND REG. NO. MBETI/GACHURIRI/140

+254791864181

smnyaga@gmail.com

PROPOSAL SENT TO EQUITY BANK LTD-EMBU BRANCH

1
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Organization profile…………………………………………..…………………….3

Executive summary ……………………………………………….………………4

Background and rationale …………………………………………………………5

Project Objectives………………………………………………………………………………..6

Proposed Activities……………………………………………………………………………...6

Project Description/ Methodology of Project Implementation………….……………………6

Monitoring & Evaluation……………………………………………………………………….7

Available resources……………………………………………………………………………..7

Required resources……………………………………………………………………………..8

Proposed project budget…………………………………………………………………………9

Market Context (Demand and Supply)………………………………………………………10

Existing Gaps in the Market …………………………………………………………………..11

Current and projected customers……………………………………………………………12

Strategies to scale up operations………………………………………………………………12

Management Team…………………………………………………………………………….12

Project Sustainability & Resilience…………………………………………………………..13

Risk Assessment & Mitigation Measures……………………………………………………..14

Appendices: current goat keeping project………………………..…………………………15

Feasibility study report……………………………………………………………………….16

2
 ORGANIZATION PROFILE

PLACE OF OPERATION :EMBU COUNTY-MBEERE

YEAR STARTED : 2018

CURRENT ACTIVITIES:

 Goat keeping
 Chicken production

SIZE OF LAND : 19.5 ha

Vision Statement

 To lead in commercial bee keeping and its value chain in natural

environments in Kenya, and empower the local community to integrate this
with flowering crops for increased profitability.

Mission Statement

 Working towards a thriving and sustainable bee keeping industry in Kenya

through improved technology and innovation.

Products:

 Natural Honey
 Animal feeds
 Bee propolis
 Bee venom
 Bee wax

3
Executive Summary
The proposed project is in the line of agriculture and entrepreneurship. It is an expansion of an
already existing farm. The farm has been operational since the year 2013. It is located at
Kiamakumi village, Gachoka location, Mbeere Sub County, Gachoka constituency, Embu
County, Kenya. It is a 19.5 ha farm located in an ecologically friendly environment. The farm
has been engaging in goat keeping for the last six years in small scale with the current number of
goats standing at 60. Throughout this time, the farm has managed to sustain itself through
revenue generated from the sale of milk and meat and live goats to the local community.
This proposal seeks to expand and diversify the existing farming enterprise to incorporate
sunflower farming, apiculture, chicken and cattle production in large scale. In particular, the
proposal seeks to establish 1000 beehives in the farm for production of natural honey, bees’
venom, propolis, bee pollen, wax and royal jelly usage. The project intends to fill the existing
market gap locally that has seen the country import honey and other bee products from
neighboring countries to meet its increasing demand. It also seeks to diversify agriculture and
offer a platform to local farmers to shift from the traditional crop growing enterprise and instead
adopt modern bee keeping venture that is more profitable, less congested and requires little space
and is not labour intensive. Besides, to effectively attract bees into the farm, the project seeks to
engage in sunflower farming within the same farm. Sunflower from the farm will also be used as
animal feed or the farm animals and the surplus is to be sold to other livestock keeper within the
county and neighboring counties too. Milk and meat still have a good demand in the area and as
such, the project seeks to keep cows and goats.
The proposed project is in line with the Government of Kenya’s Big Four Agenda of food
security and manufacturing. Among other benefits, the proposed project will contribute to
improved health care among the natural honey consumers, improved livelihoods as the local
community will be engaged in the provision of labour in the farm and some will be trained on
bee keeping and thus making them self-reliant as they will be encouraged to engage in bee
keeping as a means to alleviate poverty in the community. Animal feeds will be obtained at an
affordable price thus curbing the challenge of high cost of feeds that Kenyan farmers suffer from.
The proposed project will be managed by a trained and passionate agronomist on a full term
basis with a vast experience in organic farming and with a strong educational background in
agriculture up to post graduate level. Besides, she is also a graduate of community development
and has a strong passion in initiating community based projects.The Pay Back Period (PBP) for
the proposed project is expected to be one year out of which the project will sustain itself
through profits generated from the sale of farm products.The project seeks funding to a tune of
nine million, six hundred and eighteen thousand, three hundred and forty five Kenya shillings
( Kshs.9,618,345 )with a cost share contribution of one million six hundred and ninety seven
thousand,three hundred and fifty five kenyan shillings (Kshs.1,697,355).The requested amount
will be used in the purchase of farm equipment, borehole installation and other initial and
running costs. The targeted beneficiaries will be local farmers, traders of honey, milk and meat
products and the Government of Kenya as it will greatly reduce the burden of contraband goods
such as animal feeds into the country.
The farm intends to closely partner with savannah honey, farmers’ contractors in fruits and
honey agro-processing for revolutionary farms in Africa.

4
BACKGROUND & OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is an allogamic plant, which needs insects on flowering,
especially honeybees for seed production.Collecting nectar and pollen by honeybees in
agricultural crops is essential to apiculture,

There is a high demand for natural honey in the country. This is driven by the increasing demand
of medical honey due to the rise of life style diseases such as cancer. Natural honey is rich in
cancer fighting antioxidants coupled with the global burden of obesity, consumer interest in
weight loss using natural remedies and the ever increased use of honey in processed foods. There
is also an increasing health conscious market for consumption of natural honey. Kenya imports
over 80% of its honey despite its potential to engage in honey production.

Land in Kenya is increasingly becoming smaller due to population explosion and ever
increasing human activities. This has contributed to decline in agricultural productivity as
farmers are now forced to engage in small scale farming which in most cases is for domestic use:
Apiculture is best suited to fill this gap as it does not require a lot of space, is not labour
intensive and has low production costs. Apicultural farming is equally not congested compared
to other farming enterprises. It will offer remedies to the ever increasing number of lifestyle
related diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, cancer among others. Bee products such as bee
wax, propolis is also in high demand.

The cost of animal feeds in the country is relatively higher compared to Kenya’s neighbors and
economic competitors. There is a high influx of livestock products that enter the Kenyan market
and are sold at relatively cheaper prices due to their low cost of production posing a competitive
threat to the Kenyan producers who sell at relatively higher prices due to the high cost of feeds.
This has led to near collapse of local livestock industries in the country .To prevent this; our farm
proposes to establish a sunflower farm to be used to provide animal feeds at a cheaper cost.
These feeds will be used by our animal farm and the surplus sold to the local farmers. Sunflower
plant will equally be instrumental in attracting and retaining bees in our apiculture project thus
ensuring continuity of the project.

Traditional farming methods such as crop growing are gradually losing focus due to low profits
attached to it as a result of cheap imports into the country. As a result, more and more farmers
locally are becoming poorer despite their long and tiresome working hours. To address this, our
farm seeks to train local farmers on modern bee-keeping and integrated organic farming system
that is more profitable and does not require many skills to operate. This will contribute to
improved earnings as bees are cost effective to keep and do not necessarily require a large space
to operate in. The proposed project once implemented will thus contribute significantly to
Kenya’s high shortage of natural honey and offer a good remedy to the cancer menace and other
lifestyle related diseases. The project too will contribute to the Government of Kenya’s Big four
Agenda of food security and manufacturing.

5
Project Objectives

 To supply enough natural honey for home consumption in the county and beyond.
 To contribute significantly to poverty eradication through diversified agriculture and
adoption of modern bee keeping techniques and crop integration.
 To offer significant support to the government of Kenya’s achievement of the Big Four
Agenda in the area of food security and manufacturing. We intend to do this through
production of cheap natural honey, livestock feed, meat and milk production to be
processed in the country’s local industries.
 To offer technical training to local farmers on modern and more profitable agricultural
enterprises among them apiculture, horticulture and profitable chicken and cattle keeping
ventures.

Proposed Activities

 Borehole drilling: to be used in the supply of water to the farm for both irrigation and
domestic use. The borehole is to supplement other sources of water in the farm.
 Site clearing: a total of 19.5 ha shall be cleared for the proposed project: an appropriate
labour shall be engaged for this on a casual basis.
 Planting 1000 seeds of Sunflower in a 9 ha farm: suitable spacing is to be observed so
that there is adequate space left for bee hives in between the lines.
 Bee keeping: a total of 1000 bee hives shall be installed in the 19.5 ha farm. The bee
hives will be strategically placed in between the sunflower seedlings at an appropriate
space.
 Construction of a zero grazing unit: the unit is to be constructed sizeable enough to
accommodate 20 cows using recommended construction standards.
 Cattle keeping: a total of 20 cows and 150 goats shall be kept for meat and milk
production:

Project Description/ Methodology of Project Implementation

The proposed project will first commence by clearing and expanding the current acreage to 19.5
ha of land located in Mbeere area of Gachoka location. The cleared area will then be fenced.

The site will be earmarked into appropriate demarcations encompassing cattle farm for both
cows and goats, and an integrated sunflower and bee farm. Between 10-15 ha will be used for the
integrated sunflower-bee keeping project and the rest of the land used for animal keeping project.

Bee hives will be placed at appropriate locations within the farm in between the sunflower.

6
Water sources will be provided at strategic points for bees use and others for irrigation of the
farm.

The first project activity to commence will be procurement and placement of bee hives in the
farm. This will be followed by placement of bees’ watering points at strategic points in the farm.

The Sunflower crop is expected to mature within duration of three months. Two (2) seasons are
expected in a year.

Manure from animal farm is to be used in provision of nutrients in sunflower growing.

Sunflowers will be beneficial to bees’ survival and production due to their abundance of pollen.
Among other benefits, sunflower will be used to process animal feeds that are highly nutritious.

Bees will in turn benefit flowering plants by helping the plants reproduce, via pollination

Fig1 .Pictorial Representation

7
Monitoring & Evaluation

The proposed project is to be monitored on a continuous basis using various indicators such as
quality of produce, maturity time, costs incurred within a given time,

Monitoring is to be done by the project manager on a daily basis and a report compiled weekly.
The written report is to be used by both the project team members and other project
partners/sponsors. This is necessary as it will ensure that project objectives are easily achieved
within the stipulated time and cost and that there are very little deviations.

External consultants may be invited for evaluation on a semi-annual basis and the project team
commits to abide by its report on recommendations to be made:

Monitoring and evaluated will be based on:

 Adherence to set objectives.

 Adherence to proposed project activities.
 Adherence to set budget.
 Adherence to set project timelines.

Available resources

 19.5 ha piece of land with proof of ownership

 50 goats on the farm
 Qualified agronomist, one worker and one family farm supervisor ( human resource)

Required resources

To achieve its objectives within the stipulated time, cost and quality, the following resources are
required:

(a)Personnel

Project Manager:

The owner of the project will serve as the project manager and will be involved in the overall
management of the farm in realization of its set objectives (as outlined).

Farm manager:

The proposed project intends to engage a qualified farm manager with relevant knowledge and
experience in animal husbandry/apiculture/botany/agriculture. The holder of this position will be
required to be in possession of at least a diploma level of education and at least 2 years working
experience in the same field.
8
3 casual/ farm laborers:

They will be involved in day to day farm activities and will be required to possess relevant skills
in farm machinery/apiculture and or agriculture. Preference will be given to the locals.terms of
engagement will be on a need basis.

Store keeper: will be in charge of the farm records and supplies: he/ she will be required to keep
updated records of the farm. The holder of this position will be required to possible minimum
qualifications in record keeping/ purchasing and supplies of at least certificate level. Knowledge
in computer skills and application will be an added advantage.

4. Other personnel

 Sales assistants
 Plant & animal production technician
 Security guard


(b) Equipment

 Honey extractor
 Bee venom harvester
 Bee suits
 Smokers
 Hive tools

Suppliers

The farm intends to obtain its supplies from the following:

 Grom food (k) ltd for supply of sunflower seed

 Savannah Honey(K) Ltd for supply of honey harvesting equipment
 Apara Ltd.-Ronald Ngala street Nairobi for various farm equipment
 University of Nairobi Farm in Kabete

Proposed project budget

Item description Unit cost Quantity Total amount

Modern bee hives 5,500 1000 5,500,000

Construction of a perimeter wall round 1,200,000

the farm

9
 Drilling of farm bore hole 1,500,000

Labour (6 month period) 15,000 p.m 10 800,000

Honey extractor 70,000 20 1,400,000

Bee venom harvester 60,000 5 300,000

Bee suits 4,900 20 98,000

Smokers 2,500 50 125,000

Fleckivieh heifers 35,000 20 700,000

Fleckvieh bulls. 70,000 5 350,000

Shed construction 500,000

Sunflower seedlings 100,000

Totals 12,573,000

Contingency (10%) 1,257,300

Total budget 11,315,700

Less cost share contribution (15%) 1,697,355

Funding sought 9,618,345

Market Context (Demand and Supply)

Demand for bee honey is insatiable in the world with china leading. There is a global shortage of
honey in the market currently at shs.1.2 trillion. The global consumption of honey is projected to
hit 2.8 million tons by the year 2024. This is driven by the growing consumption preference for
natural and health alternative over artificial sweeteners, rising benefits of honey consumption
over granulated cane sugar. Natural honey also aids improved digestion, offers prebiotic support
and acne cure. In addition, there is a global consumer interest in weight loss using honey as a
protective measure against the increasing risk of diabetes, obesity and cancer. Honey contains
cancer fighting antioxidants.in Kenya, cancer is increasing becoming the number one killer

10
disease and thus most consumers increasingly prefer the use of natural honey as a remedy.
Kenya, being one of the country’s most hit by the cancer epidemic has a high demand for honey
and is forced to import from Tanzania despite its potential to produce enough honey just like
other leading honey producers in east Africa like Tanzania and Rwanda. Besides the home
remedies, there is a growing popularity of bees wax for use in cosmetic industries. Products of
honey have diverse uses especially in cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries.

There is also a high demand for meat locally. This demand is sustained by imports from
Tanzania and Ethiopia; there is a vast market in Kenya locally even before farmers think of
exports. This high market gap is due to over-reliance on traditional agriculture that is
increasingly becoming less profitable. There is thus urgent need for diversification of agriculture.
The same demand is experienced in the host community of Embu. This is supported by evidence
of Kirinyaga and other counties currently visiting our farm for meat animals.

The high cost for rearing animals in Kenya is partially due to the high cost of feeds. Animal
feeds from sunflowers will provide a long-term remedy for this. The demand for high quality low
cost animal feed is thus very high and the gaps have not been filled.

Existing Gaps in the Market

There exists little sensitization of farmers on benefits of diversifying agricultural production.

There is a common assumption among the general public in Kenya that bee farming is for poor
people. Consequently, farmers are not aware of emerging bee keeping as a profitable venture that
is low labor demanding as well as a venture that increases production of other crops from the
pollination of bees. Bee farming is equally important in environmental preservation.

Bees are increasingly facing the danger of various agro-chemicals used in the farm by today’s
farmers. Thus bee keeping is affected especially for farmers who have not incorporated organic
farming. Bees take long time to make honey and as such the process cannot be catalyzed
technically thus contributing to shortages which ultimately create high demand for honey and
other products throughout the year.

Farmers lack technical skills and knowledge to run bee keeping ventures in a professional and
most economical way. To address this, the proposed venture intends to fill this gap by training
local farmers cheaply compared to expensive trainings conducted by the government and the
private sector.

There is availability of honey in the market that is not natural. In many open air markets, this
‘honey’ is sweetened with artificial sugars thus posing a health danger to consumers. The
proposed project intends to produce organic honey with no use of agrochemicals. Natural
agricultural practices in pest and diseases as well as soil and crop nutrition will be applied to
preserve bees and the environment.

11
Expensive bee keeping trainings: our proposed venture will work towards this by offering cheap
training to farmers of the host community: This will be done on a continuous basis.

Current and projected customers

Currently, we are engaged in goat production: Most customers currently are the local population
in Embu County, the local animal market and businessmen from neighboring counties of
Kirinyaga and Muranga.

We project markets in future in and outside the county. The farm strives to slaughter and
package animal meat for distribution to supermarkets, hotels and butcheries. We also have plans
of establishing an organic hotel at the farm that will offer fresh meat.

Market for honey will be obtained through local people who will be buying it from our farm for
use as cough medicine, local, cottage industries who use wax to make candles. We intend to
closely partner with Savannah Honey who have committed themselves to buy back the bee
products thus a guaranteed market.

Sunflower seeds are on high demand in supplementing animal feeds and consequently local
farmers from within Embu and surrounding counties will be our target market.

Strategies to scale up operations

Savannah honey has committed itself to offer an eight-month presence to undertake production
process as they train our staff to master best practices.

In addition, there will be a full time agronomist to streamline the processes and will be assisted
by a farm manager and supervisor/farm manager.

Management Team

Gladys Mariga

Ms. Mariga is a trained agronomist and a development facilitator. She holds a Bachelor of
Science degree in agriculture from the University of Cape Coast. Besides she is also a holder of a
Master of Development (MDS) in community development from St. Paul’s University, Kenya.
She is passionate about agripreneurship and the positive transformation that its implementation
brings about.

Chris Kyalo

Mr. Kyalo is currently the CEO of Savannah Honey. Among other activities, the company deals
in production and distribution of honey, fruits for revolutionary farming in Africa.

12
Project Sustainability & Resilience

Water from borehole to be constructed shall be used during the dry season to supplement rain
water and other water sources

Theft by predators: hives are to be housed within a structure to be constructed to prevent

predator.

Natural honey to be sold at prevailing market prices: it is hoped that by selling our natural honey
at prevailing market prices, it will gain an advantageous position as nearly all customers prefer
natural honey at the expense of the other ‘commercially ‘ produced honeys currently in the
market. During dry periods, a different variety of sunflower that is adapted to low amounts of
rainfall shall be grown.

Pests and pathogens threat: to effectively manage this, appropriate pesticide control shall be
applied in consultation with the local veterinary so that honey quality is not compromised.

The proposed project once implemented intends to sustain itself through revenue generated from
the sale of its products. Generated income will be used to meet its operational costs and the
surplus used for expansion to meet ever increasing consumer demands. A separate bank account
shall be run to ensure that the project is well protected against any future financial shocks. From
time to time, an external auditor shall be engaged.

Risk Assessment & Mitigation Measures

Risk Likelihood of Mitigation Strategy

Event

Person Hours Certainty Assign Project Manager, engage

consultant, comprehensive project
management approach and
communications plan

Estimated Project Schedule Certainty Create comprehensive project timeline

with frequent baseline reviews

13
Risk Likelihood of Mitigation Strategy
Event

Attack by pests and other Certainty Use of pesticides and other control
predators measures

Bees’ attack to local likely Little disturbance of the colony and

community fencing of the farm

Narrow Knowledge Level of Likely Continuous on the job training

project team especially casual
labourers

14
Appendices

Current Goat Project at a Glance

15
 Appendix ii
FEASIBILITY STUDY
Savannah honey
Off The Eastern Bypass,Utawala Behind Bakri Petrol Station,Opposite Site Modern
Hospital
Po box 10218-00200-nairobi
info@savannahhoney.co.ke
www.savannahhoney.co.ke

This feasibility study was carried out at savanna Honey farm located at Utawala area of Nairobi
for three days between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm.

The following were studied extensively and appropriate gaps identified:

a) Products and services

b) Technology considerations
c) Marketing strategy
d) Organization and staffing
e) Financial projections
f) Ecological conditions

After thoroughly analyzing the above, we made the following recommendations:

 Bee keeping is a profitable venture that requires skilled manpower for better
results and profits to be realized: the personnel should be well trained to catch up
with emerging issues in modern bee keeping . Those not trained in related courses
are to undergo in-service training so that they can have basic knowledge on what
is required in apiculture.
 Need to incorporate modern technology in bee keeping such as inclusion of
modern bee hives and other related equipment for maximum production.
 There should be a farm manager at all times to monitor the progress of the
business. Other project team members should undergo occasionally training in
bee keeping so as to be acquainted with emerging issues in bee keeping.
 The company should adopt various online sales initiatives and begins project
initiation. The findings of this feasibility study show that this initiative will be
highly beneficial to the organization and has a high probability of success.

Other key findings included:

16
Technology:

 Will utilize existing technology (modern beehives) which lowers project risk
 Ecommerce infrastructure will be contracted out to vendor which allows Savannah honey to
share risk
 Once in place this technology is simple to operate and maintain for a relatively low cost

Marketing:

 This initiative will allow Savannah Honey to reach large number of target groups
electronically at a low cost
 ABC is able to differentiate itself from its competitors and will utilize incentive programs to
target new consumers coupled with its high quality honey.

Organizational:

 Minimal increases to staffing are required with no changes to organizational structure

 No new facilities or capital investments are required as a one way of increasing productivity.

Financial:

 Break-even point in bee keeping occurs early in the first one year of operation
 Five year projections show increasing sales by over 25 % of the preceding year.
 Savannah Honey will be in position to capture greater market share by maintaining both an
in-store and online presence

17