The beautiful tree that makes my money grow

Jonathan Kituku strolls in his mukau farm in Makueni. Mukau takes eight to 10 years to be ready for harvesting and apart from quality timber, its other benefits include fodder establishment, soil erosion control and medicinal value with, a foot of its hardwood costing between Sh70 and Sh80. PHOTO | PIUS MAUNDU | NMG

What you need to know:

  • The tree is hard to propagate due to the hard cuticle covers.
  • A kilo of the seeds fetch him between Sh6,000 and Sh7,000 each.
  • Today, his farm is frequented by researchers, students and farmers from Kenya and as far as Zimbabwe, Botswana, Ethiopia and Tanzania, who visit him to learn how to turnaround an arid land.
  • The tree is a deciduous and stands out with a height of 15m, rounded crown and branches hanging low.

Visitors driving along Kibwezi-Kitui Road always marvel at the spectacular scene of sprawling tall trees on an expansive farm.

The plantation that belongs to Jonathan Kituku, 62, hosts 17,000 melia volkensii trees, locally known as mukau. Kituku walks around the farm checking the hardwood trees with satisfaction.

“I will start harvesting soon, and this will go on for up to 2020,” says the farmer, who also grows the trees seedlings for sale and sells seeds.

The journey into agribusiness for the former Kenya Power electrician, started in 1989 after he quit the job to try his hand in farming.

Initially, he had tried growing other tree species in vain before settling for mukau that thrives in the region after consulting Kenya Forestry Research Institute (Kefri).

Kefri, under Desert Margin Programme, was then promoting Mukau. He bought 316 seedlings in 2005.

“The trees adapted well and I planted 10,000 more between 2006 and 2008. In addition, I planted African blackwood, tamarind and neem which also do well in drylands,” he says.

Now, instead of the sun scorching his empire, a cool breeze keeps temperatures on his farm and home low.

As he waits to harvest the grown trees, Kituku earns a tidy sum of money by selling mukau seedlings that he propagates under his Mramarui Tree Nursery Project. Early this year, he sold 40,000 seedlings to a farmer at Sh50 each.

On the other hand, a kilo of the seeds fetch him between Sh6,000 and Sh7,000 each.

From the tree business, he has been able to establish fodder and dairy agribusinesses and buy more land.

“So far, I have 300 acres in different locations in Ukambani. Out of these, 124 of them are under 17,000 mukau trees.

The fodder grass grows under the trees. I bale and sell to farmers at Sh300 each. I make up to 20,000 bales a year,” says Kituku, who harvests 36 litres of milk daily from two of six Friesian cows.

In 2008, Kituku was awarded the Order of Grand Warrior (OGW) by President Mwai Kibaki for championing commercial agro-farming in the drylands.

HARVESTING RAINWATER

Today, his farm is frequented by researchers, students and farmers from Kenya and as far as Zimbabwe, Botswana, Ethiopia and Tanzania, who visit him to learn how to turnaround an arid land.

According to Kefri, mukau takes eight to 10 years to be ready for harvesting. Apart from quality timber, mukau’s other benefits include fodder establishment, soil erosion control and medicinal value. Currently, a foot of the hardwood costs between Sh70 and Sh80 in the market.

Dr Gabriel Muturi, Kefri’s deputy director in-charge of Biodiversity and Environmental Management, says that the institution in collaboration with Jica is currently researching on improved mukau seedlings to widen its adaptability in various arid regions.

The tree is hard to propagate due to the hard cuticle that covers the seeds. Dr Muturi says Kefri is applying a technology that is assisting farmers in its propagation. It involves cracking and nipping to break their germination dormancy.

Apart from Makueni County, the tree also grows in Kitui, Thara Nithi, Embu, Meru, Taita Taveta, Marsabit, Isiolo and Mandera.

Kituku’s main challenge is getting quality seeds because one has to monitor the quality of the mother-tree to avoid getting poor quality seedlings.

Water is also scarce but he has managed the problem by harvesting rainwater and digging a borehole.

“When I started, locals thought I was dreaming for thinking that I could make more money from trees than from growing food crops. Neighbours used to graze their animals on my seedlings. We had to agree that when a goat browsed on my trees, I should take it as compensation. We lived in harmony later, and they have joined me in tree growing after seeing the benefits,” he says.

****
Get it Fast

Jewel that is the tough mukau tree

Melia volkensii (mukau) is an indigenous tree species in the mahogany family.

While these days is propagated, it grew naturally in dry areas like Ukambani and Kajiado.

The tree is a deciduous and stands out with a height of 15m, rounded crown and branches hanging low.