Low yields and a high cost of production have pushed maize farmers to diversify into other income-generating activities, such as fruit farming.
Boniface Otieno, a school dropout from Bondo, Siaya county, ditched Kenya's staple crop for mango and orange farming - a decision he wished he had made earlier.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, January 7, Otieno revealed that he incorporated the top working method, to push the yields even further.
"I used to plant maize and wheat but the climate became unpredictable. I could not rely on it to meet my household needs because I have children to school," he explained.
The farmer attended training organised by the Kenya Agricultural Value Chain Enterprise, funded by USAID, in which he learned about top working.
Otieno broke down the process, adding that it breathed life into old and low-yielding trees, increasing the period over which they would be productive.
"I grow the traditional apple and Ngowe species and when they reach maturity, I insert a graft of a different breed and tape them together," he explained.
The graft takes three months to attach to the main tree fully. Farmers must wait one more year before the new attachment bears fruit.
"One tree can yield as much as 1,000-2,000 fruits. It helps me pay school fees and can even afford to take them to the hospital," Otieno disclosed.
On every harvest season, he makes Ksh30,000 from each mango tree and Ksh25,000 per orange tree.
The fruit farmer called on other youth to embrace the new farming technique, stating that he was willing to share his information with potential growers.
Kenyans have embraced fruit firming with the dragon fruit, apple, grape, and avocado farming earning fattening farmers' pockets.
