'Though blind, my vision is clear: to find new markets,' Gilbert Korir declares.

When Smart Harvest team visits Gilbert Korir at his farm in Kapsiara Location, Kericho County, we find him as busy as a bee. From the time he woke up at 5 am, he says he has cleaned the cowshed, fed his dairy cow, cleaned the chicken house, fed the poultry, watered the crops and harvested those that are ready for harvest. And that’s his daily programme. Nothing unusual about a farmer doing all these roles. Right? But wait a minute!

Gilbert Korir who is blind feeds his dairy cow in his home, located in Kapsiara Location, Buret Sub County, and Kericho County. (PHOTO: NANJINIA WAMUSWA/ STANDARD)

The youthful Korir is blind and the amazing thing is that he does all these engaging farm duties without the help of a farm hand.

“Yes, I do all these things by myself. I do everything from planting to weeding and harvesting the crops by myself. I also make my own animal feed and feed the cows and chicken myself. I cut nappier grass into pieces and mix with molasses to give the cows,” he says with a light smile.

How does he manage to do all these tasks that require vision? one wonders.

“It’s easy. This is where l was born and l know each and every corner of this homestead. I know where the crops are, the chicken and the cow. “How do I know all this?” The most important thing is passion. Though I was born blind, I have always loved farming. My parents were farmers and they taught me everything about the farm despite my condition. That is why I do everything with so much ease,” he says.

From a distance, it is hard to tell that the young farmer has a visual disability because he walks around the four-acre farm unaided and with a lot of ease. As the interview proceeds, we watch the agile farmer in action.

Early riser

“I gave this cow feed in the morning, and few minutes ago, l heard her moo and realised the feeds must be over. As you can see she has ravished everything and now she is hungry. She’s eating too much,” Korir complains on a light note.

He goes and fetches some feeds, cuts nappier grass in an old plastic black jerrycan that has been sliced open and modified into a bucket for carrying feeds, and gives it to the cow. Due to his passion for farming, his neighbours fondly refer to him as ‘farm manager’.

Though blind, Korir is doing well as a dairy and horticulture farmer. He owns a dairy cow, which now has a calf, poultry, and grows pineapples, passion fruits, green grams, avocados and pumpkins. 

He says the dairy cow gives him five litres of milk in the morning and three in the evening which he sells to locals in the area who come to buy the produce at his farm. He explains that if she feeds her well, she can produce up to ten litres of milk, but when the feed is inadequate, production drops to about six litres.

Korir also keeps layers. “Right now l have 54 layers but l plan to increase the number to 200,” he says.

From the layers, Korir says he gets two trays of eggs in a day and sells each tray at Sh300. He also grows pineapples on two acres of the farm.

Other fruits that he grows include avocados and passion which customers come to buy at his farm. So how much profit does he make from his farming venture, we prod.

“I do not like talking about money openly. Let’s just say, I am comfortable and happy,” he says with a chuckle.

After spending a day with Korir, one is amazed by his passion for farming and the question that comes to mind is, just how did all this begin given his disability?

“I was born blind. My parents actually discovered that I could not see when I was two years old. With it came shock and denial for my parents. They sought all kind of help but it was all in vain,” Korir, who is 32 years old, explains.

After realising that nothing could be done, his parents decided to give their child the only thing that could empower him — an education.

He was enrolled in a nearby primary school that caters for children with disability where he excelled.

Coming from an agricultural zone, all this while as he was growing up, his passion for farming was being nurtured.

Kericho being a tea zone, Korir says he was raised by parents who relied on tea, although they kept complaining that the crop was not paying off. As he grew up, he resolved that he would explore other crops.

Market problem

“My parents always complained that tea was a worthless venture so in my mind, I always knew that though I would end up a farmer, it would not be a tea farmer. So growing up, I was always on the lookout for more rewarding options,” he recalls.

 After primary school, he joined St Oda Aluor for the Blind then went to Sikri, a vocational school where he learnt about crop and livestock management.

“This is where my skills in farming were honed. I was taught about planting all types of crops, taking care of them and harvesting. It was so intense it entailed nursery preparations, transplanting, watering and the like. I was also taught about milking, spraying in case they are attacked by insects, pest or diseases and poultry management.”

This learning experience opened his eyes.

When he graduated in 2012, Sense International, a charitable organisation that helps and empowers deaf and blind children and their parents, bought him a dairy cow worth Sh52,000, through a Wezesha fund project and his parents gave him four acres of their farm to start his project.

That was the leverage he needed to roll out his project.

“Armed with that, I was ready to start. Prior to graduation, l had been wondering how l would raise capital to start investing in farming. When l got the cow, l knew I was on the right path,” he shares.

With the assistance from his parents, Korir began to buy nappier but he has since planted his own.

Two years down the line, the cow has given birth and now gives him milk. He says his parents also supported him with some cash which he invested in crops. Today, he is living his dream of being an independent farmer.

“This is what I always dreamed of being since I was a child. A successful farmer who does not depend on anybody for handouts. I am happy where I am,” he says.

Though he appears to have arrived, there many challenges that cloud his vision. The biggest is the unpredictable market.

He says there are seasons when yields are high but produce demand is low.

“Because of my disability I mostly depend on customers who come to my farm. This strategy limits the number of customers I can reach out to. Sometimes, I harvest so much but the customers are few so I end up selling at a throw-away price  and in the process I incur losses,” he explains.

He says at one time, he had invested in agro-forestry—he set up a nursery and planted tree seedlings for sale. However,  there were not enough buyers so he abandoned the project.

Unpredictable rainfall also affects food production,  and when this is compounded by the high costs of feeds and chemicals for dairy and poultry products, earnings decline, Korir said.

Though challenges abound, Korir still dreams big—he plans to increase  the dairy cows he has to around 10, and chicken to 200 in about three years.

His parting shot?

“They say the sky is the limit, but for me, sight or no sight I want to conquer the galaxies and beyond.”