Nicholas Kipchirchir is an Environmental and Biosystems Engineer by profession.
However, the daring gentleman quit his job which earned him up to Ksh 250,000 per month to practice farming.
He developed and interest in agribusiness after visiting South Africa.
Here is Nicholas’ story as told by WoK.
Interest
Nicholas developed an interest in farming in 2017.
At the time, he was in South Africa for an assignment when he came across mixed farming and realized the potential that it had.
It was then when Nicholas vowed to replicate the same locally.
“I visited several farms where I installed boreholes for irrigated crop production and saw an opportunity which could be replicated in Kenya,” he said.
Resigning
The first step Nicholas had to take in his journey to agribusiness was quitting his job which, at the time, earning him half a million every month.
In an interview with Business Daily, Nicholas noted that when he resigned from his job, most people were of an opinion that he had made a costly mistake.
“Many people including my wife and parents did not expect me to resign from a well-paying job and undertake such a risky business where everything is determined by market forces of demand and supply,” he noted.
Agribusiness
Nicholas explained that starting off was not easy, especially because of the amount of capital required.
However, the 36-year-old was fortunate enough to have land, although he had to lease more land later on.
“I had to lease to expand the acreage and accommodate more food crops, poultry, dairy cattle under zero-grazing, sheep, and bees among other micro-investments to create a solid base for a living,” he said.
Nicholas started reaping from his investments through dairy farming after four heifers started producing an average of 100 litres of milk daily.
He increased dairy cows to seven and leased 10 acres of land where he plants maize for making animal feeds.
“Although initial capital for zero-grazing is colossal, the ultimate returns are attractive. All that one requires is proper animal husbandry since there is always a ready market for milk and its products,” he said.
Nicholas also does sheep rearing, and sells about 15 sheep yearly at Ksh 8,000 each.
He also keeps improved kienyeji chicken producing 60 eggs everyday, earning him Ksh 20,000 every month.
He also has seven top-bar beehives with each hive producing 10 kilogrammes of honey every three months, earning Ksh 60,000.
“The good thing with agribusiness, you are your own boss and you can diversify in response to market forces unlike in white-collar jobs where you strict yourself to an area of specialisation,” he said.
Nicholas has employed two permanent and six part-time employees.
“In this kind of farming, one cannot depend on a single source of income. I have diversified to farm visits and I charge Ksh 1,000 per person for a two-hour session
“I get 10 to 15 people monthly. This also gives me additional income unlike in employment,,” he added.
Nicholas has also ventured into tomato farming, and the cultivation of Hass and Fuerte avocado varieties in his farm.
