John Macharia is a former National Youth Service (NYS) officer making millions from growing rice in Bura Irrigation Scheme.
He started farming at the irrigation scheme over four decades ago while he was still working under the NYS.
Macharia started by growing cotton, then later maize before deciding to settle on growing different varieties of rice.
Here is his story as told by WoK.
Macharia went to Bura, Tana River County for official duties when he was just 22-years-old.
In an interview with The Star, he noted that his quest to lead a better life saw him start farming in 1982 as farmers in the irrigation scheme were making money from growing cotton.
Two years into the farming business, Macharia stated that he was already making good money for himself.
“In 1984, I was growing cotton in six acres at the irrigation scheme and I would get about Ksh 36,000 which was good money at that time
“Besides, I was also getting a salary of Ksh 600 per month from the National Youth Service,” he shared.
After a while, farmers abandoned cotton farming since it was no longer profitable and turned to other crops.
Macharia started growing maize seeds for Kenya Seed Company and in 2013, he earned close to Ksh 1.4 million from maize yields alone.
This was four years before he abandoned maize farming, and shifted to rice farming citing late payments from Kenya Seed among other challenges.
“I felt that growing maize was no longer profitable so I shifted to growing rice,” he said.
On a 6-acre-piece of land, he grew Basmati rice variety before expanding to also include the Kwamboka variety.
“The first Kwamboka rice harvest earned me a profit of Sh300,000. Then I increased it to 10 acres and harvested 76 bags that earned me about half a million,” Macharia explained.
Macharia sells his produce to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) at Ksh 43 per kilo.
He hoped that the government will invest in the necessary infrastructure such as milling machines, in a bid to support rice farmers and enhance profitability.
