Wangari Kuria is a mushroom farmer based in Kitengela and an agriculture influencer rooting for urban farming.
She is also a consultant, offering support to people who wish to venture into agribusiness.
Kuria ventured into farming shortly after losing her job at a local real estate company, leaving her with a huge bank loan to service.
Here is her story as told by WoK.
Background
Kuria was born and bred in Nyandarua County. She naturally leaned towards farming because her parents were engaging in it.
She left Nyandarua in 2010 to join the University of Nairobi to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, Political Science and Communication.
At USIU, she did a Master’s Degree in Business Administration-Strategic Management between 2015 and 2018.
In an interview with Nation, Kuria noted that she was working with a real estate company but she got retrenched.
With a bank loan to service, she had to look for an alternative source of income to clear her loan and sort her other needs.
Fortunately for her, they had purchased a piece of land in Kitengela where she moved to from he rented apartment in Kiambu Road.
Her involvement in agribusiness was awakened, when she would stay in the house all day feeling depressed and identity-less.
“It was at this point that I started a garden at home. I later requested my neighbours to lend me their idle spaces to farm, which they agreed,” she said.
With land from her neighbours and water from a borehole within the area, Kuria started farming vegetables.
“I began farming sukuma wiki (collards) and spinach with an income of Ksh 3,000, which would help me cater to basic needs and save at least Ksh 2,000 a month upon maturity
“The venture was encouraging as loads of Kenyans used to buy vegetables ranging between Ksh 80 and Ksh 100 per day,” he said.
It was not long before she was introduced to mushroom farming.
“I was invited for a training program In mushroom farming held in Limuru. That became a turning point in my life, I went home sure of what I wanted to do
“Although it has been a tough journey, I have learnt a lot about the business,” Kuria explained.
Having earned herself nicknames such as ‘Mushroom Queen’ and ‘Farmer on Fire’, she is also the founder of Mushroom Growers Association of Kenya.
“Additionally, I host an online space with hundreds of women who farm to discuss, learn, vent and pursue various opportunities in agriculture,” she said.
Kuria sells her produce to wholesale buyers at Parklands Market and clients who place their orders through social media.
“Usually, when I arrive at Parklands, I sell to wholesale buyers who make offers depending on demand and supply
“I always reserve a few for my direct clients who order via social media, then I drop them in town for delivery to various destinations,” she said.
With the help of her workers, Kuria harvests her produce from 11 pm, as she is required to be at the market not later than 3 am.
“We harvest and pack the mushrooms as we listen to music for hours. We cut, brush and weight them into 250 grammes packs and wrap them in cling film
“After that we put them in boxes and into the car. I then head out to Parklands market a few minutes to 3 am,” she added.
Other than selling fresh mushrooms, Kuria also sells books, does influencer gigs and offers consultancy services to people interested in farming.
“I do monthly blogs and e-books on agribusiness, youth funding, agro-ecology and gender. I also organise monthly agricultural trips for farmers enrolled in exchange programmes I coordinate with partners
“My future dream is to finish my PhD, and have 1,000 urban mushroom farms by the end of this year. I also want to get into research to figure a practical and sustainable way out of the climate change menace,” she said.
