Smart mushroom farming project will empower growers

One of Kenya’s oldest institutions, the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), has launched a multimillion-shilling research and development initiative funded by the government of South Korea that will see tons of mushroom planting material distributed to hundreds of farmers across Kenya in a smart agriculture and livelihoods initiative.

The project, named Smart Mushroom Farming, focuses on the production and nationwide distribution of high-quality mushroom spawns. Farmers will be empowered with innovative tools, training, and technology to improve food security, protect natural ecosystems, and promote inclusive green livelihoods.

In one of the boldest university community outreach projects meant to implement research from the labs for the benefit of society, JKUAT will lead the project through its innovation hub, JHUB Africa. The university’s partner in the endeavour is the Korea International Cooperation Agency Creative Technology Solution (KOICA-CTS) programme. JKUAT established JHUB Africa to train students and entrepreneurs, allowing them to access opportunities to develop and scale their ideas by offering mentorship and funding.

More than mushrooms

“This initiative is more than growing mushrooms – it’s about cultivating opportunity, resilience and conservation,” said Dr Lawrence Nderu, founder of JHUB Africa and chair of the department of computing at JKUAT. “By empowering communities with locally adapted biotechnology and digital tools, we are redefining how sustainable farming and forest preservation can co-exist.”

Nderu said that, through the support of the KOICA-CTS programme, the project leverages Korean Kenyan collaboration to “scale impact”, introducing the use of digital tools for spawn tracking, optimising yield, and monitoring the environment.

Describing it as a community-driven project, he said it would empower youth and women through training and entrepreneurship and will leverage “data-driven techniques” for sustainable farming, with the hub serving as a centre for research, training and entrepreneurship development.

Infrastructure will include cameras and sensors that automatically regulate conditions such as temperature, humidity and lighting, enabling the entire system to be monitored and operated remotely via smartphone from anywhere in the world, Nderu disclosed.

“The project will involve a lot of research, including testing some of the sensors and other smart solutions for monitoring the growing conditions of the plants,” he told University World News. “We will also need to capture a lot of data on the uptake of the plants, so we will work with PhD and MSc students.” They will also target working with at least 20 undergraduate students as they seek to reach directly at least 400 farmers across the country.”

Creating sustainable livelihoods

According to Park Wankyu, the Kenya country director of KOICA, the project has “transformative potential” because it is practical and offers climate-smart solutions that empower smallholder farmers to generate income while safeguarding forests.

“The initiative is about farming and creating sustainable livelihoods and promoting inclusive green growth,” Park said at the launch of the project on 25 April 2025 at JKUAT.

“By tapping into the potential of mushrooms, we are not only introducing a high-value crop but also presenting an innovative solution to smallholder farmers to increase their income and move away from environmentally harmful practices such as slash-and-burn farming,” he explained.

“We are proud that this facility will serve as a hub for knowledge transfer, technical training and entrepreneurship by empowering farmers, researchers and youth to become agents of change,” Park said.

Professor Victoria Wambui Ngumi, the vice chancellor of JKUAT, praised the project for turning “academic research into tangible solutions”.

She said the integration of biotechnology, the Internet of Things, and practical, first-hand training position the project as a vital tool in the fight against food insecurity and youth unemployment. She applauded the initiative, noting that it also served as a model and a “launchpad for applied research”.