Quitting a job for entrepreneurship can be a risky move, given the uncertainty that comes with running a business.
However, Lincoln Gachuki was ready to face his fears and follow his passion for farming.
The Egerton University Bachelor of Commerce (BCOM) graduate started farming in 2016 after quiting his job at the Barclays Bank of Kenya (now Absa) where he was working under Outbound Portfolio Management Team.
“The idea of being paid 12 times in 365 days did not sit well with me. I got tired of staying behind a desk and making calls. I quit to pursue my passion of tickling the soil,” Gachuki tells Capital Business.
Eight years down the line, Gachuki can look back and smile as his decision has paid off. On his half-acre land in Nyahururu, the farmer plants two strawberry varieties, including San Andres and Chandler varieties.
He explains that to start off, he injected Sh500,000 into the project, which he used to buy farm inputs and machines as well as set up a greenhouse.
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“The portion under strawberry is around 0.5 Acre. My whole land is 3.5 acres. Expanding slowly,” he says.
The farm produces around 100 punnets per day each selling at a wholesale price of Sh100, meaning Gachuki earns Sh10,000 per day.
“We supply supermarkets and several high-end groceries in Nyahururu. Have also got some clients from Nairobi,” he adds.
The farmer is looking to tap into strawberry jam, Juice, and Strawberry flavor value addition after ramping up production.
Strawberry, a popular fruit with a high consumption rate in China, the US, Egypt, Turkey, Mexico, and Germany, thrives in deep, sandy loam soil rich in organic matter.
The crop is early maturing and starts flowering after 3 months.
While strawberries are lucrative to grow, Gachuki warns that they are very perishable (stay fresh for 4-5 days after harvesting), hence the need to start looking for a market early enough to avoid incurring losses.
Moreover, the crop requires plenty of water and is prone to diseases during rainy seasons, which cause the rotting of the fruit.
Thrips, aphids, nematodes, mites, leaf blight, gray mould and anthracnose are some of the insects, pests and diseases that attack the crop.
