By Prudence Minayo
Once he graduated from school, Vincent Isambo thought he would easily secure a white collar job. However, this proved opposite as he could not get employment anywhere. He was forced to return to his village and find a way to make a living.
This is his story as told by WoK:
Background and Education
He was born in a family of 9 in Ebuyonga village, in Khwisero sub county. Vincent graduated in 2014 with a diploma in Business Management from Regions Group International College in Nakuru.
Tree Nursery Business
After unsuccessfully trying to secure employment, he returned home. At this time, he had conducted research and decided that he wanted to focus on the tree nursery business. He talked to his parents and they agreed to give him part of their ancestral land.
The enterprising graduate started by putting up a tree nursery at his father’s land. He planted the seedlings of the eucalyptus trees and at the end of the season, he was able to make Sh10,000.
“I used to source eucalyptus seeds from mature trees in my village so I didn’t spend much on such. After preparing the seedlings, I sold about 1000 seedlings at KSH 10 each and thereafter bought Grevillea, cypress and Kay-apples tree seedlings. That was after a period of five months,” he told Tuko in an interview published on 25th January 2023.
Isambo also added that at that particular time, he had 5,000 tree seedlings. He sells the tree seedlings to neighbours and different people across several counties. During the rainy season, he can make between Sh30,000 to Sh50,000.
But this venture is not without any challenges. To begin with, lack of evenly distributed rainfall makes it hard for him to grow the seedlings all year round.
Secondly, the seedlings may at times be destroyed by adverse climatic conditions, such as, hailstorm. This is because he grows them in the open.
And Vincent has not put all his eggs in one basket. Instead, he has diversified and this supplements his earnings.The 32-year-old grows and sells various indigenous vegetables including: managu, mrenda, saga and kunde.
Advice to jobless graduates
His advise to graduates was that they should look for an alternative source of income as they await employment. He said the more graduates flood the market, the more the jobs become less. He urges them to identify their passion, stick to it, and start small.
