Jane Wambui, is a mother of three children and the  wife to Mr. Simon Nderitu. She is the treasurer of Embaringo Amani SHG an affiliate of Embaringo Commercial Village in Gatarakwa location of Kieni West Sub-County. Wambui and her family own 10 acres of land out of which 7acres are dedicated to growing onions, cabbages, Irish potatoes, maize, beans and pigeon peas for food crop and the rest is on trees. Her main cash crop is onion. She decided to grow onions because they  were profitability, had a ready market and because she had access to land. 

Before Farm Concern International’s interventions in her village, Wambui used to grow the open pollinated varieties (OPVs) in a ½ acre which would yield an average of 800kgs per season. This she would sell at an average price of Kshs.13 per kilo earning her an average annual  income of Kshs. 20,800. Finding a buyer for her produce was also a big challenge, she was forced to rely on middlemen who exploited her and other farmers in the village thus making the cost of production too high. 

To address this situation, FCI in partnership with Business Development Service providers e.g. input suppliers and financial service providers undertook a series of capacity building interventions for members of Embaringo Dairy SHG. Some of the input suppliers included Syngenta E.A Ltd, Amiran Kenya, Nduki E.A Ltd among others while financial service providers included Taifa Sacco, Equity Bank and Biashara bank. Capacity building interventions covered establishment of onion nursery, on-farm management of onions, good agricultural practices, financial literacy and linkages to business development service providers. 

After gaining this knowledge, Wambui decided to shift from open pollinated varieties of onions to hybrid ones. Over time, Wambui has increased her acreage under onions by approximately 600% and attributes this to linkages created with input suppliers and markets which have resulted in the introduction of new hybrid varieties, market availability and stable pricing. 

On average, her production has increased by over 400%.  She currently harvests approximately 20,000 Kgs per season. The average price of a kilo of onion for large sized onions is Kshs. 25 this translates to Kshs. 400,000 per season form the earlier annual income of Kshs. 20,800.

Wambui has Kshs. 400, 000 as total savings in her account . The family bought 2 dairy cows valued at Kshs. 45, 000 each and built a 6 bedroomed house. They are also able to take their children to better schools. She also established a cereals business that involves buying and selling of cereals to other villagers. 

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