Pamela Achieng’ had worked at a Naivasha-based multinational flower farm for three years when in 1996, feeling she had enough experience, she quit to venture into agribusiness. She ventured into greenhouse farming of tomatoes.
“I wanted an opportunity to reap maximum returns from my own sweat,” says Ms Achieng’.
The business grew rapidly over 10 years and by 2008, her farm had seven greenhouses, 900 broiler chickens and seven cottages to cash in on the lucrative tourism industry.
The business was sitting on a four-acre parcel of land with an estimated net worth of about Sh4.5 million.
“My entire investments were earning me between Sh250,000 and Sh300,000 per month, depending on the season,” she says.
Then the worst struck. On the morning of February 7, 2008 at the height of post-election violence, machete-wielding youths stormed her Naivasha home and looted everything while destroying others. Her brand new Toyota Prado was set on fire in the ensuing melee.
“My children and I had locked ourselves in the main house desperately waiting for help as we watched the youths destroy my farm,” says Ms Achieng.
After the dust settled on the post-election mayhem, Ms Achieng’ found she had fallen from grace to grass.
Her two farm workers were killed in the attack and she was lucky that her security company responded to her alarm in time to rescue her and her two children, who joined 600,000 other displaced people in temporary camps. Ms Achieng later flew to Tanzania with her two children to join her husband, Valt Verweij, as she sought to recover from the financial loss.
She resumed her business in 2010. She sold her Naivasha farm and bought a two-acre piece of land on the outskirts of Kisumu at a cost of Sh4 million and revived her previous business.
“I realised there was an urgent need to move on rather than focus on the past,” says Ms Achieng.
However, Ms Achieng noticed a high demand for eggs, broiler chicken and milk, as well as fresh vegetables. She bought 500 layers and 300 broilers to begin with as she structured her new farm to accommodate the several projects she had in mind.
“2008 must have been a blessing (in disguise) as I realised there was huge demand of agricultural products in Kisumu unlike in Naivasha,” says Ms Achieng.
She also has four dairy cows and two heifers on the farm where she grows indigenous vegetables. Even with about 400 eggs a day, she does not satisfy the market; she is often forced to ration what a customer buys to cater for them all.
With a budding hospitality industry in the lake city, occasioned by the upgrading of Kisumu International Airport, Ms Achieng’ has built three cottages targeting tourists.
The investments earn her between Sh200,000 and Sh300,000 a month depending on seasons. She has entered into pig farming with an eye to quenching demand for white meat in the lake city.
“When you invest in food, you will never go wrong. There will always be demand for food,” she says.
Ms Achieng’s farm is a model to farmers in Kisumu and beyond who visit seeking tips on effective land use.
By RAMENYA GIBENDI (first published on Business Daily in June 2013)
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