Do Not Just Be A Farmer, Be An Agripreneur And Make Money!

Have you heard someone say that they make Ksh 600,000 from their dairy animals? Or others say they make Ksh 100,000-150,000 from their poultry and you wonder how on earth?

Well, we need to understand that there is a difference between farming and agribusiness. Most Kenyans today are just mere farmers, who probably farm because it is their culture, for fame or probably because they have nothing else to do.

Agripreneurs on the other hand do their calculations right. To them, farming is an investment and any investment should give in returns. I am sure you all agree that farming can be tiresome, discouraging, frustrating and more so boring especially if you reap nothing.

For instance, I met a certain farmer from my village and he told me he is about to plant beans. Out of my curiosity, I asked him what quantity of beans he planted last season and he told me 2kgs.

I went ahead and asked him how much his harvest was and he said 3kgs. So I did my quick simple calculations. He tills his land, does the planting, and adds manure and all that whole process, waiting for beans to grow just to harvest an extra 1kg. Is it really worth it?

I have come across farmers who own 3-4 cows yet they only manage to produce 3 litres of milk is it really worth? How many Kenyans are suffering in the same cocoon of being just farmers and still remaining poor? Could it be the reason Kenya is still facing food insecurity yet we have very fertile land.

I have also seen most people who make a lot of money from farming in Kenya yet they own not even an acre of land of their own. Most agripreneurs lease land and make maximum utilization of the land and they make huge profits.

I have been to homes where they own plots of land yet they cannot produce basic kitchen products like kales, cabbages, tomatoes which do well in most areas and producing such would save great cost.

It is time we start to think about investing in agribusiness. We have been like village farmers long enough. We have to acknowledge times have changed and those big acres of land owned by our grandparents are no longer there.

Food insecurity is indeed a huge problem. We must utilize the small plots of land, incorporate technology and produce products and make money. It is time we embrace agribusiness, ‘kilimo bora si bora kilimo’.The agribusiness field is the best field to invest in and its returns are worthwhile yet the following pillars are needed.

1. Persistence

Farming is not a get rich quick scheme. It requires persistence. You must get dirty. It is quite frustrating, you will encounter losses, pests and parasites many invade your products, markets may flood, government policies may affect you but at the end of the day only the persistent will enjoy the fruits.

2. Networking

In agribusiness, you produce what others want so you have to really network with your clients in order to know what the market demands. You also need to network with other farmers because farming is always a learning process it is not the kind of business you can make it alone.

3. Consistency

Most young people have given up in farming after probably suffering losses. Some get into it with high expectations of making huge amounts of money and once it does not happen they stop probably waiting for the right season.

As an agripreneur you must be consistent during on and off seasons. Let us stop being just farmers lets be agripreneurs. That way, we are assured of making money.