By Prudence Minayo
The staple food in Kenya is Ugali (maize meal) which is more or less stiff porridge that goes well with a variety of greens and stew. And as the population of the country grows so does the demand for maize flour (unga). This has led to an increase in the number of maize millers in the country but few stand out when it comes to quality.
Buffalo Millers is one such company that was founded in 2013 by 33 year old Evans Killi.
Borrowing from Roff Millers website, here is Killi’s story of perseverance and passion as told by WoK.
The Dream
The dream to start the company was conceived when Evans saw how his father struggled to get fair prices for his maize from cartels who rule this market. He decided that setting up his own maize mill would be a perfect solution. His father worked as a mechanic before he shifted to farming. They would lease land from locals for farming before they bought their land in Soy constituency in Uasin Gishu county where Buffalo Millers is based.
He told Business Daily 40 under 40 of his dream of setting up milling plant:
“When I was growing up, I used to see my father struggle with selling his maize. I set up a goal to help my father by putting up my own milling plant and do value addition”
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Background and Education
Evans is the youngest son in a family of three brothers. He knew wanted to do early in life and followed this by pursuing a Mechanical and Plant Engineering degree at Moi University. Thereafter, he continued with his postgraduate studies. He made sure to look for internship opportunities in flour milling firms, to give him the experience he needed.
“I did all my internships in flour milling industries to further sharpen my skills in milling,” he told BD.
Establishing his business
The entrepreneur contacted Roff Industries in South Africa who assisted in the design of a small maize mill company. Initially, the mill had the capacity to produce 800kg per hour. With a small loan from his father, one truck and four employees, operations commenced on his father’s farm.
“After completing my studies, I identified a good supplier of milling equipment and with a small loan from my father, I started milling,” he said.
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The company currently employs 50 permanent employers and 50 on a contract basis. Standing proudly at their farm is a Roff R-70 100-ton Turnkey Maize Milling Plant, which he believes gives them an advantage in the industry. It has the capacity to mill about 100 tons of maize flour and 50 tons of wheat flour per day.
The company founder said he is continuously modifying and improving the systems of production and their products’ quality.
Evans Killi advises young entrepreneurs to follow their dreams and do honest work if they want to succeed.
