Once a casual labourer, now owns his own farm

Peter Kaliba in his farm in Lororo village, Marigat, Baringo County where he is a thriving watermelon farmer. [PHOTO:BONIFACE THUKU/STANDARD]

At only 21, he is a prosperous watermelon farmer at Lororo village in the semi-arid Marigat sub-county, Baringo County. How he started and what inspired him is remarkable.

Peter Terebes Kaliba from the minority Ilchamus community dropped out of school at Standard Eight due to money problems.

He sat his KCPE in 2011 at Rabai Primary School where he scored 334 marks of a possible 500, his parents were unable to raise his school fees.

To make ends meet, he chose to work as a casual worker.

“I started working on people’s farms since I was in Standard Six. I learnt so much from the experience and I knew I wanted to start my own one day,” says Kaliba.

After clearing Class Eight, instead of wasting away at home, he chose to work at a neighbour’s watermelon farm. Instead of him being paid, he asked him to share him few yards of his farm where he could plant his own watermelons and sell. That was the beginning of his journey to farming.

“From my first harvest on that half an acre, I made Sh50,000. This highly motivated me and I went for an acre where I got double the returns,” says Kaliba.

One year later, he went for two-acre piece where he harvested 15 tonnes of watermelons which fetched him Sh315,000.

The young farmer is doing seven acres through furrow irrigation using water from the seasonal Molo river. He targets 10 acres by the end of next year.

Rosy as it maybe, he admits that watermelon farming however, is not a bed of roses. There is the challenge of a sustainable market, high cost of maintenance, lack of water, pests and diseases.

Watermelon farming, he says, is an expensive venture and one needs over Sh50,000 to plant an acre.
“For one to plant an acre, you must invest over Sh50,000 depending on the soil type, water availability, spacing and maintenance,” he explains.
Despite the challenges of growing the crop, Kaliba says he prefers watermelon over other crops such as maize due to high returns within a short time.

“Watermelons only take 60 days to be harvested. In a year, I will have planted watermelon six times while maize is twice. Melon is also not labour-intensive,” he says.

Samuel Gatito, a watermelon seeds and pesticides dealer in Marigat says many farmers are yet to embrace the farming. “I sell watermelon seeds to many farmers here in Marigat and I also educate them on advantages of the crop but many shy away citing high cost of production and maintenance,” Gatito explains.

Kaliba challenges the youth to embrace this form of farming.
“The problem with many youth of my age is that they only want white collar jobs. I tell them instead of idling, they start farming and slowly they will prosper like me,” he says.

Marigat Sub-county Agricultural Officer Samson Bett says more young people need to take up this farming.