My girlfriend left me because I chose farming

Charles Ngei (24) weeds managu at a farm in lower kabete.18/11/2016 PHOTO B Y GEORGE NJUNGE

When Patrick Kairu was a boy, he wanted to be a pilot. His dream was to fly a plane or become a successful engineer.

Years later, Kairu has found himself driving a different kind of machinery – a handcart. He says he has no regret over the path he chose to follow; that of quitting formal employment to pursue farming.

He describes his entry into farming as a beautiful happenstance that changed the course of his life.

By the time he was 22 years, Kairu had graduated from college and was immediately sprung into the world of unemployment. He recalls writing several application letters and attending interviews, but none bore any fruits.

When he finally got a job as a banker, he realised formal employment was not giving him the income he anticipated, and he was always working under pressure, making it difficult for him to enjoy his work.

FRUITLESS JOB SEARCH

He then decided to fold his suits, don an overall and try out farming at his mother’s backyard in Kabete.

At 24, he now regards himself as his own CEO. He manages a farm that grows spinach, African nightshade (Popularly known as managu), Kales, cabbages, and also keeps more than 300 layers and broiler chicken.
“There is no stress. I work under my own terms,” he says.

He wakes up by 6am to feed the chicken, clean the coop, pick eggs, and then he starts tending to his crops.

He schedules his days in ways that allow the crops to be planted, pruned and harvested on time so that he supplies his clients without fail.

He says the Bachelor of Commerce degree he got from Strathmore University has helped him manage his books and monitor the profits he is getting from the farm.

STRESS-FREE LIFE

“My degree has not gone to waste. I still use it in my farming business because I know how to balance books,” he says.

He also says he has realised farming is giving him more than he was earning when he was a banker, and he enjoys every bit of it.

He laughs when he talks about the challenges he faces as a young man who pulls a cart to deliver products to clients.

“My girlfriend left me, because she thought this job is not classy. I get very dirty sometimes, and that scared her,” says Kairu.

But in that dirt, he says he has found satisfaction of tending to crops till they mature and are ready for sale. He has also learnt a lot of things that he never thought he is capable of doing.

“I never imagined I could dig, or carry chicken waste to go and manure the farm,” he says.

He has plans of expanding his farm, and his main priority will be to establish a dairy farm, and set up a green house where he can grow other crops for sale. To him, the biggest lesson he has learnt since he abandoned formal employment and became his own boss is: Do not let what you studied limit what you do after graduation. Like Kairu, Charles Ngei an equally young farmer and a business associate of Kairu can relate.

Ngei, who is also 24, and studied community development says he embraced farming to escape unemployment.

Ngei says after graduation, he earnestly looked for employment all over the country, and at one point settled for a cleaning job that paid a meagre salary.

“I was desperately looking for a way out, and for a while, it felt like everything was not working out,” says Ngei.

ENEGERTIC

Last year, he says he discovered that farming provided a promise he was not able to find in formal employment.

He joined Kairu on his farm, and together they are able to provide the local market with fresh produce. They say being young has worked to their advantage, because not only do they have the energy to work for long hours at the farm, but they are also able to effectively use technology to market themselves.

The duo use social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to reach potential clients.

“I recently met someone I had met virtually and we were able to do business together,” says Kairu.

One of the biggest challenges they face as young farmers is the perception they get from people whenever they are sourcing for customers. Ngei says most people tend to treat them unprofessionally simply because they are young.

“They think we do not know what we are doing,” he says.

However, they have managed to work through that by ensuring they deal with them professionally, by supplying them with well-tended products, and this races away with the fears and doubts potential customers have. Being in Nairobi also presents a challenge of water shortage to irrigate the crops.

To address this set back, Kairu says they are using a water harvesting plant in the compound where they capture rain water and use it all over the farm.

He says if it rains for four consecutive days, their harvesting point can hold upto 5,000 litres of water.

His advice to young people who are being tossed up and about looking for employment is for them to try out farming.

“When you are dedicated to it, farming never lets you down,” he says.