The good and the ugly about joint ventures

Nakuru, Kenya: Harold Irungu, a farmer in Nakuru County, entered into a partnership with a friend to grow tomatoes on a large scale. It was a good year, with perfect conditions for growing the crop. From an initial capital of Sh20,000 each, the two partners had accumulated Sh2 million by the fourth lorry load of the crop to the market.

Irungu had taken the fifth lorry load of tomatoes to Nairobi’s Wakulima Market when his partner cited a sudden commitment elsewhere. Irungu did not sense anything unusual. Even when he banked the proceeds from this sale, nothing seemed amiss. He remembers calling his partner, who lived a short distance from his home, to alert him that he was on his way back so the two of them could do the calculations of the entire venture as the current crop was coming to its end.