When I am not writing I like to engage in my other passion farming. In Kenya there has been a school of thought especially among the younger generation that agriculture is for the older generation and basically not worth their time. However, this perception is slowly changing with more and more young people starting to engage in farming due to its lucrativeness.
Even though it is a lucrative venture it does have its risks just like any other business. The biggest risk is crop failure due to many factors which include pests and diseases and lack of rainfall. Use of wrong or substandard seeds or fertilizers can also lead to failure. As such my advice to any would be farmer is that they should ensure that they engage professionals before making any investment in agriculture. Just like in any other venture, these professionals (agronomists, vets) will aid you in minimizing the costs while at the same time maximizing your output.
My journey into farming started about 5 years ago when a friend of mine who had been farming for some time shared how lucrative it was. Needless to say I have never looked back as any venture that could give me over 100% returns was welcome any day. I started out with farming an acre of maize and beans and the returns though not as impressive as I had imagined were good enough to allow me recover my costs and be able to plant the same the following season. However, after farming maize for a few years I decided to try my hand in wheat farming. Everything stated out all well up until the last month to harvesting when I started raining heavily. Prior to harvesting wheat requires dry weather conditions, needless to say that this meant heavy losses for me. As they say what doesn’t kill you actually makes you stronger and the experiences learned so far has proved to be invaluable.
For any farmer, there is a deep sense of satisfaction that comes when after a hard day’s work at the farm one can look across the field and marvel at their crop. One can’t just help but smile at the sea of green as the healthy crop sways in the afternoon breeze. It is at such moments that one pops open a bottle of an ice cold Coke, sits back enjoys the view. Because such great moments are best enjoyed with a Coke in hand. All I can say is that I have no regrets since I started farming other than that I should have done it sooner.