Organic fertilizer innovator show cases at Laikipia innovation trade fair

Mr Kuria Kiboi at his stand in Nyahururu town yesterday during the annual Laikipia innovation trade fair.He manufactures organic fertilizer. [Photo: Standard]

When Kuria Kiboi finished school in 1998, he had nowhere to go so he started doing menial jobs in Nyahururu town to make ends meet.

When life got hard, Mr Kiboi joined his father who worked as a mechanic where he picked up skills that included metal work.

In 2007, an opportunity arose for entrepreneurs to train in Japan. The programme was run by the Kenya Japan Alumni Association and it offered training in various trade courses.

Kiboi successfully applied and was flown to Japan for a three-month course in mechanical engineering.

Old job

On his return, he went back to his father’s workshop and carried on with his old job. But the urge to use his newly-acquired skills kept nagging him.

“I could not sit and waste all the knowledge I had gained in Japan. I kept asking myself what I could venture into.”

Kiboi soon came up with the idea of setting up an organic fertiliser factory. He said that he saw how well crops in his mother’s kitchen garden grew after application of manure.

“I had visited one of the factories in Japan and it was doing well. So I decided that was the business I wanted.”

With no capital to buy equipment, he started assembling machines using scrap metals from the workshop.

“I borrowed some money from my father and I used the knowledge I had gained from Japan to put up the structures. I called on other mechanics we used to work with and started processing the fertiliser.”

Kiboi, a father of two, founded Agriflora Organic Solutions Company, whose products he showcased at the third Laikipia Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair held at Nyahururu Stadium yesterday.

The company prides itself in using modified equipment to process manure, eggshells and bones into fertiliser.

“The bones are rich in phosphorus. We burn them first to destroy the hard enamel before crushing them into powder for easier absorption of nutrients into the soil,” Kiboi said, adding that the egg shells are a good source of calcium that crops require for better yields.

The manure is sourced from ranches in Laikipia while the bones and eggshells come from butcheries and hotels in Nyahururu.

Kiboi said the factory can produce 5,000 tonnes of fertiliser daily, which is distributed to farmers in central Kenya and Rift Valley.

With one bag retailing for Sh2,500, Kiboi lamented that farmers were yet to embrace the organic fertiliser.

“Many of them do not know that the chemical fertilisers they use can destroy the soil and lead to poor yields. That is why they do not come and buy from us. But those who know can attest to the fact that organic fertiliser is the best to use in the farms,” he said.

Changing lives

The entrepreneur also cited high cost of electricity and taxes as the other challenges that hinder him from expanding his business.

Kiboi, however, said he was proud that he was offering employment to the youth as well as offering a product to help farmers improve their yields.

Laikipia Governor Ndiritu Muriithi said the trade fair had changed the lives of participants, adding that was the reason his administration was encouraging job creation and entrepreneurship.

Mr Muriithi lauded Kiboi’s fertiliser business and urged residents to emulate him.

“This is the way to go through entrepreneurship. Laikipia people have had their lives transformed and youths should follow suit,” he said.