FIELD TRIP B THIKA
Cost $30 (covers travel, lunch and refreshments)
Time: 28 Aug 2009 8 am - 3 pm
Theme: Horticulture and smallholder agroforestry farm mosaics
Champion: Josephine Kirui
No of People: 30
Although Thika is giving way to Athi River as the industrial town of Kenya, the panoramic waterfalls seen from the Blue Posts Hotel are there to stay. You will visit a small village - Kaha-ini – after Thika town where you interact with our prime client – the farmer. The average farm sizes are less than one hectare. But notice the floral and faunal diversity in these smallholdings and management skills of the smallholder farmer. Fodder shrubs support sustainable smallholder dairy sector that is transforming the farmers’ lives as the diverse vegetation transforms the landscapes. Please take a sip of some goat milk, if it is offered, and you will notice the instant effect. You will then be ready to tell the difference between the various fruit tree varieties you see at KARI Thika after four days of PowerPoint presentations. The horticulture industry in Kenya is renowned with Fresh Products Exports Association of Kenya (FPEAK) having gained a reputation abroad for its standards. While the Horticultural Crops Development Authority (HCDA) leads national efforts in growing and marketing of fruits, flowers and medicinal herbs, KARI Thika, the next stop, spearheads horticultural research.
Above - Offices KARI Thika (National Horticulture Research Centre)
Top - A waterfall at Blue Post Hotel. Source: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/855110
After leaving the KARI station, the biggest pineapple plantation (Delmonte)in the world appears on your left. Visit a nursery managed by the energetic Mr Njenga. As you interact briefly with him, you can compare notes with nurseries in your country in their roles in agroforestry adoption. The drive back through Ruiru and onto Kiambu road reveals large coffee plantations interspersed with residential developments (both competing land uses that exclude smallholders) that give way to the metropolis. By then you will be ready to enter Karura forest, the fight for which, gave recognition to the country’s only Nobel Peace Laureate – Prof. Wangari Maathai in addition to her other environment and peace efforts – for a relaxing walk at the nature trail.
Suggested itinerary
0800 – 0845 – ICRAF to Kahaini
0845 – 1015 – Three farms in Kahaini - group divides to three sub-groups
1015 – 1030 – Kahaini to KARI Thika
1030 – 1140 – KARI Thika
1140 – 1145 – KARI Thika to Blue Posts Hotel
1145 – 1230 – Lunch at Blue Posts Hotel
1230 – 1245 – Blue Posts to Juja Tree Nurseries
1245 – 1305 – Juja Tree Nurseries
1305 – 1335 – Juja to Karura Forest
1335 -1445 – Karura Forest Nature Trail
1445 – 1500 – Karura to World Agroforestry Centre (Hotel)