I researched for seven months before I started farming

Kevin Nguyo tends to his cabbages at his Embaringo farm in Kieni west.

When Kevin Nguyo graduated from college, he started looking for a job and he was not lucky.

“To eke out a living, I used to do odd jobs,” says Mr Nguyo, who has a Diploma in Architecture from the Nairobi Institute of Technology.

During the period of trying to make ends meet, he went through a lot of soul-searching.

In 2015, he visited his grandfather in Embaringo in Kieni Constituency and his eyes were opened to the possibilities in farming.

He met his age mate who was performing wonders on the farm. “The guy told me he was making a cool Sh200,000 per season by selling cabbages. I was impressed. His success inspired me. I asked my grandfather if I could utilise three acres of the ancestral land to do some commercial farming. My whole family was supportive,” he says.

To avoid making costly blunders like many newbies who go into farming with no experience but youthful passion, then end up suffering losses, he  conducted research for seven months.

Enough info

“I went online and started reading agricultural literature that was relevant to my study. I searched on crops that can do well in Kieni, where to get them, how to grow them etc. To get acquainted with latest trends in farming and farming news, I went to the Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) shows and farmers’ field days to get new ideas, seeds and identify the best techniques to grow various foods,” he shares.

When he was certain he had sufficient information, he got down to work.

In August 2016, he planted wheat, on a small section of the farm, then in December he planted carrots. Unfortunately the drought hit his farm hard.

But because he has already done his research, he anticipated such setbacks and had a solution for every challenge.

To keep the farm thriving, he started using drip irrigation technique. “I would use as little water as possible on the carrots at night so the water would not evaporate, and this is what saved my carrots,” he says.

In January, he planted cabbages on an eighth of an acre and a month later, he planted potatoes.

Sh1 million

The plan was to ensure he had something to harvest each so he could have a steady income.

“I am still learning but so far it has been worthwhile. I had a bumper harvest from the wheat and the carrots have so far earned me Sh28,000,” he says.

He admits that he would not have succeeded without the support of family and the intense research he conducted before he went into farming.

This season, he has harvested 20,000 kilogrammes of carrots. If he manages to sell a kilo at Sh80, he is looking at Sh1 million