Shiro Ndirangu is among daring Kenyans who quit employment to venture into agri-business.
After graduating from university, she landed a job with a local bank where she worked for over seven years before she called it quits.
Despite making the daring move, Shiro now runs Afrex Gold Limited, a company that packages and exports fruits and vegetables.
Here is her story as told by WoK.
Background
Shiro attended Strathmore University where she pursued a Bachelor of Commerce in Administration and Finance.
During her time in university, she would spend weekends and holidays in the farm helping her parents.
Her parents grew vegetables and fruits for sale, and although she was somehow inspired to practice agri-business, she was not sure about it.
Shiro graduated from the university in 2008 and landed a job with Stanbic Bank where she worked for seven years.
She quit her job to venture into farming.
“The desire to be back in the farms became apparent, so I quit my job and pursued my passion. I have never looked back,” Shiro stated.
She joined Afrex Gold Limited in 2016 as a General Manager, a role that she held for 4 years before being promoted to the Managing Director in 2021.
Founded in 2000, the company packages and exports fruits and vegetables with a main focus on hass avocado.
Afrex is located in Thika where they have a state of the art avocado processing line capable of processing 3 tonnes of avocado every hour.
“I’m currently spearheading a project in land restoration that allows us to work with small scale farmers to improve the quality of seedling they use in their farms for better yields, while planting exotic trees that are beneficial to their ecological zones,” Shiro said.
The company started by working with farmers in getting supplies for local markets before identifying opportunities abroad.
Afrex has long-term supply agreements with customers in Europe and the Gulf Region supplying fresh produce every year.
“Our portfolio includes avocado, mangoes, bananas and pineapple. We do however focus more on avocado from small holder farmers throughout the country
“With the gains made over the last seven years in the sector, meeting this aggressive goal will certainly be the highlight of my career,” Shiro notes.
The company has focused on Hass and Fuerte avocado varieties, and the indigenous Jumbo variety which is sold to specific markets.
Prices vary depending on the variety, size, quality, demand, supply and location ranging from Ksh 35 to Ksh 110 per a kilo.
“We work directly with farmers to ensure that they get value for their produce through fair pricing,” Shiro says.
