Where can I get Muguka seedlings?

One of the greatest challenges that people who wish to embark on muguka farming face is that of getting the muguka seedlings.

If you are looking for muguka seedlings, perhaps a good place to start would be in Mbeere and other parts of Embu county where muguka is widely cultivated. You should start your search within the urban centers  -- in Mbeere and others parts of Embu where muguka is grown -- rather than going straight to the muguka farms. You need to understand that muguka farms are sensitive areas, and being found walking around them if you are unknown or if your business is not very clear can be quite risky. But if you go to the urban centers in Mbeere and other parts of Embu where muguka is grown, and you talk to people and inform them that you are interested in getting muguka seedlings, they should be more than ready to help you. Then, with guides from the Muguka growing areas, you can go to the actual muguka farms (or to wherever they usually buy their muguka seedlings) and eventually it would be possible for you to get the muguka seedlings you need.

Besides Mbeere and other parts of Embu county, Muguka is also said to be cultivated – albeit on  a modest scale – within the Kyulu/Chyulu Hills in Ukambani region. So that is yet another place where you may find muguka seedlings -- though this would entail going to an even remoter and riskier location.

Before you embark on the search for muguka seedlings, it is important for you to ensure that wherever you are planning to start growing muguka is actually conducive to the crop. Muguka seems to be one of those crops that require a very specific type of climate and soil. So you need to ensure that wherever you are planning to start cultivating muguka is actually in a place that is conducive to muguka farming. But then again, if you are the adventurous type, you can just get muguka seedlings and try raising them anywhere to see how they will do. It could turn out that wherever you are taking them ends up producing even better quality muguka than Mbeere or Embu... who knows without trying?

If you are planning on growing muguka for sale, you would also need to think about the market. The intricacies of muguka business in Kenya are complex, with various webs of brokers whom you often have to work with. But then again, if you manage to grow good quality muguka, it shouldn’t be too hard for you to find a market for it. There is of course also the complexity of government requirements, as the local authorities wherever you are planning to grow muguka may frown on the idea of you growing the tree there. You know how controversial muguka has become in various sections of the society. So there are indeed very many considerations to be made, before embarking on muguka farming or before venturing out in search of muguka seedlings.