Making packing bags using photocopying papers

Ismael Wachira at his working place in Nyahururu town. Photo (Jacinta Mutura, Standard)

I make packaging bags using photocopying papers.

When plastics bags were banned last year, I noticed that businesspeople in Nyahururu, Laikipia County, were struggling as they didn’t have non-plastic packaging for their products.

I decided to quit my teaching job at a technical institute – I was a computer instructor – and started making packaging bags using photocopying paper.

I purchase a ream at Sh500 and modify the papers into packing bags using a square-shaped metal, and later seal the edges using an adhesive.

My clients are mostly shopkeepers, cereal and grocery traders and agro vets.

I’ve found plenty of demand in Nyahururu and its neighbouring towns. I make the bags on order and in a day I can make about 3,600 bags.

I have six employees who help me prepare the bags, and market and sell them. I sell them in 100-piece bundles at Sh300, which earns me Sh1,000 in profit per ream.

I believe that if more young people worked towards self-employment, the chances are high that they’d create the opportunities that their peers need.

(Ismael Wachira, 29)