Stephen Kiala is the founder of Zana Farm in Makueni County, where he practices large-scale mixed farming.
Before stepping into the venture in 2017, Kiala was working as an auditor at a Nairobi-based firm. In a past interview with Citizen TV, he revealed he was inspired to venture into farming by a Zambia farmer who quit her nursing job in Australia for farming.
”I got inspired into agriculture by a Zambian lady who quit her nursing job in Australia to farm in her native home, and currently, she is adding a lot of value to her country,’’ he said.
His farm hosts various crops on a large scale, including maize, tomatoes, cabbages, and onions, among others. Kiala, however, admitted that transitioning from a well-paying job to farming was not easy, as many people questioned his move.
“At some point, I had colleagues and friends who thought I had gone crazy; they thought I was mad, and some even advised that I see a psychiatric doctor,” he recalled.
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He was, however, determined and sure of what he wanted for himself. Given the persistent drought in Makueni, Kiala’s top agenda before starting his investment was getting a reliable source of water.
“We drilled a borehole; luckily, God helped us and we found a lot of water there. We get 23,000 liters of water every day,” he said.
The farmer uses solar energy to pump the water into storage tanks. He further excavated a dam that harvests water during rainy seasons and provides a constant supply of water to his farm throughout the seasons.
As of 2020, the farmer had 15 acres under production, where 6 acres were on onions, 3 acres on tomatoes, 4 acres on maize, and one acre on cabbages. The farm, which has adopted the drip irrigation method, has employed eight permanent staff.
“From time to time, we have between 15-70 employees depending on the amount of work,” he said.
He sells his produce directly to Twiga Foods, a company that links him to other farmers and vendors in the market. Kiala advised potential farmers to start by leasing small parcels of land before owning one.
