I keep cattle, but my cash cow is herbs: MP Tobiko

When you get a chance to tour a vast farm in dry Kajiado County, you obviously expect to find herds of cattle roaming freely in vast swathes of land. But that is not the case at Kajiado East MP Peris Tobiko’s 250-acre farm in Ikolosat village, Kajiado County.

In addition to hundreds of cattle that graze around freely, the farm has four huge greenhouses where the MP grows not tomatoes but herbs under her company christened Maasai Flavours.

But why herbs in a traditional pastoralist community?

“Forget about cattle. Yes, I have them, but that is not my secret gold. I discovered the gem in herbs and have never looked back,” she says as she takes Smart Harvest team on a tour of the four green houses packed with basil which is ready for harvest.

They sit on six acres of the farm. For the last five years, Madam Tobiko — who happens to be the first Maasai woman to be elected MP — has been growing basil for export.

Business is good

And business is good, she says.

“We harvested some 4 tonnes last week. This batch is due for harvest this week. They mature after one and a half months. They take three weeks in the nursery and three weeks after transplanting they are ready for harvest. After harvest we will sort and package them for export to the Netherlands and Sweden,” she says.

Before diving into it, Mrs Tobiko did her research and discovered a rich market for the herb in Europe and tapped into it.

“One thing with the export market especially Europe is that the receiving company wants tonnes and tonnes which sometimes I cannot meet. I would encourage other farmers to tap into this gap,” says the MP.

She goes on; “For instance, the basil herbs we exported on Monday was immediately taken with the customer demanding that we get her the sum of 400kg by this Friday.”

But what is basil and what are its benefits?

Basil herb is one of the ancient and popular herbal plants with important health-benefits.

This highly prized plant revered as a “holy herb” belongs to the family of Lamiaceae, in the genus: Ocimum.

According to Wikipedia, basil herb is originally native to Iran, India and other tropical regions of Asia. Basil leaf is a herb with many uses in cooking, natural medicine, and more. Nutritionists say it can cure headache, soothes ear infection or reduce blood sugar.

Harvest time

On the day of the visit, it is harvest time in one of the green houses.

“We harvested about 300 kilos on Monday with more harvest on the way. I am expecting close to four tonnes by the end of this Friday," she says.

For those interested in export business, she says the process is intense, but rewarding.

“After harvesting, I make prior arrangements with the flight bookings and have a refrigerated track on standby on the day of harvest before proceeding to the airport.”

She says once exported, there are always ready customers waiting at the airport to have them. She landed a deal with a British company who have linked her to the UK market.

Soil test is a must

For production, she says a farmer must get some things right. First, is soil test to establish which nutrients are missing.

“Every season before I plant, I call in an expert from a local company called Crop Nuts to find out what nutrients are missing. You see, most farmers just start planting before testing the soil. They just farm blindly which is disastrous,” she says.

She further explains that it takes three weeks for the herb to be propagated in the nursery before it can be finally be transferred to the farm where it will need another three weeks before it is ready for harvest.

Like all crops, basil are prone to attacks by pests and diseases.

In order to counter such attacks, especially mildew and developing too much moisture she makes it a point to have an agronomist visit her farm on a regular basis.

Though the herbs business is thriving, like a wise farmer, she has diversified her ventures.

“My cattle are my back up plan. You never know... with farming.”

Cattle farming

She has more than 100 cattle mainly heifers.

“I sourced my first breed of heifers (10 of them) from Emali Makueni County in 2000.”

Each cost between Sh15,000 and 20,000 depending on the size. Other cross breeds were sourced from Naivasha at a price of Sh80,000 per animal,” she reveals.

The farmer who has 15 farm workers, says to boost milk yields she buys the best dairy feeds from trusted agents.

She also has a personal veterinary doctor who checks on the animals every three months.

The vet on call

“But in case a cow is sick, I call in the vet immediately. I do not like to take chances and play the vet. It can be costly,” she says.

Like a smart farmer, she is crafting ways to deal around the animal feeds issue.

“Commercial dairy feeds are costly. I am in the process of growing sun grass, Napier grass, elephant grass or Uganda grass to supplement them,” she discloses.

Record keeping

So what are her secret to a thriving venture?

She emphasises on importance of record keeping.

“Many farmers complain that they are too busy to keep records. But they don’t realise that failure to keep records is setting oneself up for failure,” says Tobiko.

So serious is the farmer with data collection and management, she is setting up an office on the farm specifically to handle that role.

For newbies, she has plenty of lessons.

Like any other business Tobiko says farming requires planning, focus and patience.

“It is important for farmers to harvest lots of water by making sure they have boreholes within their farms. This comes in handy during drought seasons,” she offers.

Risk management is also overlooked by most farmers, Tobiko says.

“Anything can happen, so plan for the worst.”

Technology is equally fundamental, she points out.

“You can’t start farming without the right farming equipment. Research and find out what you need, how much it costs and where you can get it at an affordable price,” says Tobiko.

Passion she says, is what keeps you going when the money is not coming.

“One must have passion as opposed to being driven by money. Also having reasonable goals, managing your cash flow and consulting with experts is important,” she says.

Future plans

Five, ten years on where does this ambitious farmer see this project?

“How about some processed products? It is high time we process our own natural products. This will open more doors for our youth,” the farmer adds.

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