It is often said that three out of every four jobs in Kenya, and Africa, are derived from agriculture. As a result, farming is a vital driver of Kenya’s journey to prosperity, with its potential to change the lives of tens of millions of citizens. Its potential has seen several ordinary Kenyans invest in the sector in search of opportunities to generate wealth. For Judith Okango, the gamble has paid off handsomely.

When Mrs Okango decided to venture into rearing chickens, she had little idea the business would pick up so quickly and become her main source of income. She started the business two years ago, on Bidii Farm in Kitale, as a way to earn a little cash on the side with an initial capital of Sh200,000, which went towards buying chicks, constructing chicken coops and purchasing vaccinations.

Okango focused on the business exclusively when she realised poultry farming requires constant supervision to thrive, as the slightest drop in health standards could lead to the death of an entire flock. “One has to be very careful with how they take care of poultry. For instance, I allow only one sweeper and cleaner into the hen house to minimise contamination and maintain the highest possible standards. I also regularly vaccinate the chicken,” she said.

She spends an average Sh10,000 a week to maintain her business, or Sh40,000 a month. But her income more than makes up for this cost. For instance, from her 350 daily eggs collection, Okango is able to come up with at least 2,450 eggs per week which give her at least Sh. 98,000 per month. “I sell my eggs at Sh. 10 each,” she says. She earns another Sh100,000 from the sale of chickens, which she buys and sells or rears and sells from her farm, and an additional Sh20,000 from the sale of manure. While the rearing of chicken is no doubt a lucrative business, she has had her fair share of challenges.

First, the cost of chicken feed is getting more expensive despite Government attempts to lower prices. Further, the quality of chicken feed from some manufacturers has worsened as these traders compromise on quality to achieve maximum sales in a competitive market.

Second, the road network between her farm and some of her customers is rough, making the process of delivering eggs a delicate, and potentially loss-incurring, trip. Third, there is still no permanent solution for the diseases that attack chicken, such as fowl typhoid and Newcastle, which can wipe out a flock within no time. However, these can be effectively managed through regular vaccinations to prevent an outbreak.

Lastly, the cold weather that has persisted in some parts of the region has affected the quality of eggs. However, agricultural extension officers have increased efforts to help farmers maintain the quality and number of eggs produced by their birds, as well as ensure flock health.

Okango relies mainly on word of mouth from the friends and family who are her customers to market her business. This has helped her grow a customer base that includes supermarkets, schools, hospitals and kiosks around Kitale. She hopes to set up a hatchery to meet the demand for chicks and increase the size of her flock.

Her advice to aspiring farmers: “Never give up. It takes perseverance and hard work to be successful in the poultry farming business. I have no regrets about taking it up, and I hope more farmers get into the business. “Also, save as much as possible for expansion, and don’t be afraid of taking small loans to grow your business.”

Wooden boxes painted blue and white hanging on trees. Keith Wichenje, picks one small box and opens it. “These are stingless bees. They are very friendly because they don’t sting like the honey bees. In fact, I don’t wear any protective gear while harvesting honey or handling them,” he says.

To harvest, Wichenje takes the hives to a closed room and removes the nest. Then he pricks the honey pots with a syringe and presses it inside the pots to suck the produce. The dark room prevents aphids and flies from finding their way into the honey nests. Although there are up to 18 species in Kenya, the farmer keeps about five because he says they are economically viable. They come in clusters of a queen, drones and the workers.

Wichenje started to domesticate the insects as hobby in 2010 when he inherited a few hives from his aging grandfather who kept the stingless bees for medicinal and subsistence use in Kaimosi and Kakamega forests.

Initially, he began by putting the bees that reside in underground cavities in small traditional pots. He later used the smaller and more modern Australian beehives.

Wichenje’s hives have two compartments. “I don’t remove all the honey combs. I leave some, together with the young bees to allow continuity of the population,” he explains.

And the bees have other benefits too, beyond the honey which he sells. Farmers with greenhouses have been knocking at his door seeking the bees to pollinate their crops.

SMALL CREATURES

“Farmers who grow tomatoes come to lease the occupied hives at a cost of Sh500 each for a month. They pollinate tomatoes, watermelons and strawberries in enclosed structures.”

He, however, recommends that the crops are sprayed at night or when the boxes are sealed to protect the bees from coming into contact with the chemicals. “Most people don’t know that you can domesticate these friendly insects and make sweet money from them,” he says, adding that there are other salient features which make the small creatures distinct from the other bees.

“As you can hear, they are silent. They don’t buzz and are relatively small (2 to 8mm). They also never go beyond a radius of 5km when looking for nectar,” says the 31-year-old who holds a degree in Business Management from Moi University.

He adds that their honey has a unique tangy taste compared to that of the other bees, though this attribute depends on the type of tree on whose nectar the bees feed. Dr Kiatoko Nkoba of the Nairobi-based International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) says stingless bees’ small bodies enable them to suck nectar from small plants. “Some of these plants are herbs with tiny flowers. This is what gives these bees an edge when it comes to the medicinal content of their honey.”

Dr Nkoba adds the stingless bees are less susceptible to diseases, though different species tolerate different climatic conditions.

TREE LOGS

“Some of the species produce up to 20 litres of honey in a year. Even though the yields are lower than those of the common bees, this honey is pricey because of its medicinal value. A litre goes for up to Sh1,000,” says Wichenje. The farmer also makes and sells hives containing bees at Sh7,000 each to aspiring bee keepers.

The bees are too sensitive to smoke or chemically-polluted environment and can fly away, he warns. “Other challenges are flies which lay eggs in the hives. Their larva devours the combs and one may end up losing the whole harvest.”

During dry spells when most flowers have withered, he mixes water and sugar and pours them in crucibles next to the hives. The farmer sources the bees from underground cavities such as dead ant-hills or dead tree logs in forests. From the honey business, he has been able to buy a piece of land and is now paying for his post-graduate diploma in project management.

You will likely find Fredrick Nyaga touring his eighth-acre sweet potato farm, changing water sprinklers from place to another or mulching when you visit him. “A sweet potato farm needs covering to prevent soil erosion,” he says, showing us the effects of growing the crop without covering the soil. It is this attention to detail that has turned his small piece into a profitable venture.

Nyaga started growing sweet potatoes in 2012 after his tomatoes let him down. “I love sweet potato farming because it is less labour-intensive compared to a tomato project. With tomatoes, you have to keep spraying because it is prone to attacks from diseases and pests. For sweet potatoes, you need to provide soft soil and you are good to go,” he says. Last season, Nyaga who grows KEMP-9 sweet potato variety, which he harvests three times a year, sold 600 kilos with each kilo fetching Sh200.

This variety, according to him is on high demand. Nyaga, a father of three, owns a half an acre of land in Kawanjara Runyenjes, Embu County. Though he is an electrician by profession, he loves farming. “I get satisfaction from farming. It is the backbone of my family as I get almost everything from the farm.” When he was growing tomatoes five years ago, he would fetch very little profits. “Tomatoes are a common crop here so the demand is low and thus, it fetches poor prices.

On the other hand, sweet potatoes are on demand all year round.” Before he ventured into sweet potato farming, he did his research to establish the market availability. “I understood that many supermarket shelves were stocked with vegetables. Very few had sweet potatoes. After that discovery, I invited an agricultural extension officer who advised me on the basics of sweet potato farming. Afterwards, I immediately started growing them.”

To increase his knowledge on sweet potato farming, the 39-year-old attends ASK shows and exhibitions, which offer him valuable lessons. Last season, he raked in Sh120,000, an amount he has never received when he was a tomato farmer. At the moment, his main clients are supermarkets and other business people in Embu County. Nyaga grows his sweet potatoes in rows spaced at ten to 12 inches apart. He says, “Space is very important and triggers optimum yields.”

To ensure his crop is of high quality and popular in the market, he does sufficient watering and mulching. This strategy ensures he gets huge sweet potatoes that enables him get more than 500 kilos per harvest. Obed Njamura, an agricultural extension officer based in Kyeni Division, Embu County concurs with Nyaga’s sentiments. The officer says the crop thrives where there is a lot of water. He adds that most sweet potatoes diseases affect the roots. “Fungal leaf spots are common, but a farmer can ignore them as they clear on their own. Fusarium wilt is another common sweet potato disease. To deal with them, a farmer needs to use virus-free transplants and also be keen to isolate planting. Soft soils are also good for sweet potatoes,” he says.

William Lang’at did not let his failure to clinch Silibwet Township Ward seat hold his ambitions back. In fact, the loss turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it gave him an opportunity to venture into something he had been thinking of for a long time. “In the past I have tried dairy farming but I gave up due to low returns and the demanding nature of the venture unlike poultry,” Langat says at his home in Kelonget village Bomet Central.

For many, the mention of establishing a poultry farm evokes thoughts of a concrete wall house with corrugated iron sheets, a notion Langat disputes saying one can succeed in poultry with a simple structure. “I spent less than Sh50,000 in setting up and stocking my poultry house with chicken and two years down the line, the profit which have come out of it is unimaginable,” Langat says.

He adds: “As you can see, my poultry house is made of iron sheet and a few timber which do not cost much but it brings in a lot of money a day.”

Langat remembers with a nervous laugh how he started the poultry venture: “My last born sister who works in Nairobi asked me to set up a poultry house for her which I did and somewhere on the way she changed her mind and I took it upon myself to stock it and I have never looked back.” Langat who is the main supplier of eggs to major hotels and joints in Bomet town says he started off with 400 chicks two years ago.

He says through the chicks sourced from KenChic in Nairobi through a local supplier he has been able to make at least Sh30,000 in profit every month through the sale of eggs. He sells eggs to local hotels at Sh10 each. “After deducting the cost of feeds, I am always left with Sh30,000 as profit every month and it has given me hope to keep pushing on with the venture since it involves less work,” adds Lang’at. The former finance chairman at the defunct Bomet Municipal Council, says to achieve the profits he has had to maintain high standards of feeding and taking care of his poultry.

“Always learn from mistakes, at first I used to get 80 to 90 per cent of eggs production from my poultry and it was due to poor feeding and maintenance which I later learnt through colleagues who have been in poultry farming and to my surprise I started getting 100 per cent egg production,” adds Lang’at.

He says poultry farming has not been without challenges saying securing the right feed to ensure maximum production of eggs has been an headache. “Earlier when I started keeping my poultry, I kept changing the feeds due to inconsistency in supply and it affected my production which almost threw me off the balance,” he says He, however, says to beat the challenge he has been forced to stock appropriate feeds that serve his chicks for an entire month.

He says through poultry farming he has seen two of his children finish secondary school and university education.
Besides educating his children, Lang’at says he bought two pieces of land in the area and is looking forward to developing them through poultry farming.

“The venture has been a turning point and given me a different perception of life as a whole from my time in politics to now when am out of politics,” he says. “With dwindling farm space, it is a precise venture for anyone who has passion and is eyeing success through farming since it requires little space while it gives back high returns,” Langat adds.

The father of two says high demand for quality and consistent supply of eggs in Bomet and outside is another drive that has kept him motivated and even planning to expand the venture to beat demand. “There is a high demand for eggs from the people I supply eggs to and at times I am forced to buy from other farmers to beat the demand,” Lang’at reveals. Besides expanding the poultry venture, Langat says he has set his eyes on setting up a hatchery for supply of chicks to local farmers.

“I have come to realise that sourcing for chicks is a big headache to many farmers in Bomet and I want to tap from that challenge by setting up a hatchery and a brooder so that I can supply chicks to farmers,” Lang’at reveals. He says his plans are at an advance stage saying the site for the hatchery is ready and hoping to be up and running by February next year.

At the same time, Lang’at says he plans to set up a brooder to help farmers who are not able to take care of one day old chicks for a fee. “Many farmers also find it hard to manage one day old chicks when they buy and some have been driven out of poultry farming after losing chicks soon after arriving from the hatcheries due to lack of knowledge on how to manage them,” Lang’at says adding he is keen to tap from such farmers.