Besides his official job as Kirinyaga County Senator,  James Kamau Murango is a seasoned farmer with acres of farms in Nyamindi village in Kirinyaga.

The politician has heavily invested in both crops and livestock farming, growing macadamia, coffee, tea, and mango, as well as keeping goats and cows, thanks to his farming skills borrowed from his father.

“I was born in a family of farmers and I have grown up knowing that it is only through farming that one can get a decent livelihood,” says Murango.

His 20-acre farm hosts mangoes, super Napier grass, dragon fruit, bananas, and indigenous lemon, which are all grown organically.

“I don’t use pesticides in my farms. I am a champion of organic farming. I also don’t use fertilizer but compost manure. Organic food fetches higher prices because people have realized the benefit of consuming safe and healthy food,” he says.

His farm has adopted biochar, an organic fertilizer made from ash from the bamboo tree hailed for maintaining soil fertility for a long period.

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“The biochar reduces soil emissions of greenhouse gases by absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and sinking it into the soil while also retaining useful microbes, reducing the need for fertilizer requirements,” he explains.

Murango also practices beekeeping mainly for pollination during the flowering of his crops for more yield.

The farmer, who also owns 50 acres of macadamia trees, says he has been in the Macadamia business for more than ten years.

His farm hosts more than 1,200 trees of the crop. According to him, a mature macadamia tree can produce between 150 to 200 kilos in a lifetime.

Besides crop and bee farming, Murango owns more than 300 goats for milk, each producing between three to five litres of milk daily.

He also keeps goats for mutton and has a special breed of dairy cattle called Gir from Brazil, each producing more than 40 litres daily.

“I get at least Sh6 million monthly from farming alone. This is just from selling the produce from my farms,” Murango explains.

His success in farming highlights the potential of diversified agriculture for farmers intending to maximize their earnings.

He noted that some of the farmers are unable to enjoy the fruits of their hard work due to various challenges, including low prices.

Others are a lack of proper infrastructure to ease the transportation of produce to the market and a lack of extension officers in the counties to train farmers on best agricultural practices.