@KulaHappy, Where is the land and what's the acreage? This will provide a guide for leads.

I can give you some seeds, but si umechelewa for this rains? I usually check to see the farmer has prepared his land where he will plant if i am to give away seeds to be sure he sells back to me otherwise i have to sell. Tuongee before next rains.

Ni sawa although we are very conservationist in our approach, we promote use of irrigation only to "boost" a few weeks before rains, or overcome early stages of drought to ensure good harvest. Kenya's food problem is mostly related to food PRICE/value addition chain and not rainfall, pests, e.t.c we also prefer using organic mbolea kwa hivo time ya kujitayarisha, unless i send my wakulima "techies" to thika to start hunting for mboleo.

@MuchKnow do you contract countrywide?Personally i do farming in Olkalou.

At the start of this year i made a decision to start farming seriously.

lets do this at the start of the next planting season.Ie March 2016

Meanwhile drop me an email on wazuaguest (at) gmail (.) com

So that once the planting season kicks off i will remind you.

Your conditions are ok with me.Hopefully there will be a bumper harvest.

My flagship is hibiscus sabdariffa (coast mribena, choya e.t.c), and Kimeru yams which i am still developing propagation, i have some traditional indigenous maize and lablab/beans duracol aka njahi seeds which i am still developing, some farmers managed to keep some of these crops e.t.c , basically traditional African foods seeds and trade.

Hibiscus is very high value (prices over 10k per kilo for organic certified ziko mayuu), good scientific rigor, it's lightweight, easy to grow/plant, matures quickly (3 to 4 months) and can be transported by air profitably, the US (and some EU countries and Japan) currently import from Germany, who import from Sudan, because US has some restrictions that do not allow them to get direct from Sudan. Kenya's production is still too low to fill this gap if any direct flights come, though this might result in a sustainable growth for investors in this sector......in the long term!

My main focus however is developing the local (lower income market), i can guarantee a price of 300/- per kilo ( i make between 1k and 2k per kilo), but you might get better, plus it is easy to sell,particularly the cool juice.

I buy the dried, from near i can buy the fresh and dry/prepare them. I really do not encourage the 'EXPORT' mentality particularly when food is scarce in Kenya, it is simply a Moi error misnomer about business & that's why many honchos in his garment were after exporting flowers and stealing tea/coffee money as we starve, it's simply unethical at times silly and unsustainable (turns into cartel) killing farmer. Sell to your neighbor please, or let the Americans come to buy at your place. When exporting hibiscus tea from Kenya to USA you will have no problem and no interaction with FDA, there is an approved list that covers many things, search for it at US customs, or the US Dept. Agriculture portal. That's how kiashes ship food from here. The honors of filling necessary forms is with the buyer and not you, and is simple and straight forward, there is a possibility there is a Kenyan bureaucracy/form to export huge quantities (cargo/shipping). I know a few people who export 20kgs/5Kgs e.t.c, you can even use postal services as long as you fill their simple form, or use a site like Amazon.com who have already filled necessary forms. There are places to trade as a more serious seller but you buy membership for kitu 50K per annum. FDA are strict on labeling (e.g 'organic') and unapproved stuff.

@muchknow, kindly send your email to dropmyload at gmail dot com. Would like a detailed chat to take things forward.

I can do spices and herbs. Any leads?

@Much know, would also be interested in the contract farming, pliz give me the details too.
Thanks in advance.