Drip system for my new pepper project

Entrepreneur

About Me

I am Wallace Ngugi, an agribusiness entrepreneur and a banker by profession , aged 30 years. I have a Bachelor of Economics degree from Kenyatta University. I am married with a 7 months son. I started my agribusiness journey as a first year using my first student loan in my rural village Gume, Kibichoi sub-location, Githunguri constituency, Kiambu County, Kenya. Growing up, financial constraints persisted but with the exposure I was getting in economics, I decided to do agribusiness as part of the solution to this challenge. I had a passion in farming. I ventured in horticulture farming as the main activity after analyzing the current trends of growing urbanization in my locality and associated accruing benefits from the growing food demand. Moreover, demand of fresh produce from the farm. Farming was my optimal venture because of availability of land and water in my locality, favorable climate, and labor availability as it is highly populated. The income generated goes towards supporting my family, invest in expansion of my portfolio, save for further education among many others. I have a vision to be an exporter of fresh farm produce. In my free time I like engaging in outdoor activities.

My Business

In my portfolio I grow colored capsicum, chili, spinach and kale. There being a high population in my locality the demand for vegetables is inevitable. Kibichoi is also centrally located within Nairobi Metropolis. Other towns providing ready market are Thika, Ruiru and Kiambu. I sell my colored capsicum in Nairobi city park market highly demanded by the Asian community living around there. Chili is my latest entrant targeting the exporters. I sell spinach and Kale to the local community as customers have a great preference for fresh produce. I harvest them on order. There has always been a constant flow of loyal customers on daily basis with little surplus that I take to a local market. I grow my crops under irrigation in open field, for chili, spinach and kale, and a greenhouse, for pepper, so am able to take advantage of the dry season. The main risk to my business water shortage. For pest and disease I avert by integrated pest management strategies. I also seek information from partners in agronomic support.

The introduction of chili saw my water use increase in great volumes. I pump from a well whose capacity have gone down and it is no longer sustainable. I decided to invest in pumping water from nearby river passing through our farm down he ridge. The whole project has a budget of $1200.00. I have managed to finance 80% from my savings and. I seek to request a loan of $150 dollars to cater for labor and digging a trench to lay the pipes and electric cables.

the below highlights my current expenses and revenues:
TOTAL MONTHLY EXPENSES
Amounts ( $)
1 Labor -40
2 Electricity -30
3 Capacity building -10
4 Pest and Disease management -60
Total: 140

TOTAL MONTHLY SALES
Amounts($)
1 Pepper: 300kg @ $0.80 -240
2 Kale 200KG @ $0.30 -60
3 Spinach 200KG @ $0.40 -80
Total: 380

Total profit= $240

Loan Proposal

Rain fed agriculture has failed to sustain food demand in the world today and this has called for innovations on how modern-day agriculture is done. Irrigation is one such innovation that has enabled farmers to increase food production as they can grow crops all year round. However, the best irrigation system is that which improves efficiency, that is, minimizes cost and wastage of water. Drip irrigation pass this test as water is only applied at the base of the plant in small amounts. It also takes less time to irrigate the whole field compared to when irrigation is done by human through drenching thus saving me a lot of time to do other productive activities. In my last loan advanced to me by Zidisha lenders coupled with the little savings I had helped me construct a shade net house to expand my pepper project. So far the initial stages are doing well. To make this project more successful, I place a humble request to Zidisha lenders for a loan of $ 177 to buy a drip system for this project. This loan will be utilized as follows:
Drip lines: 1000m @ $0.15 per meter= $150
Drip connectors: 30 connectors @ $0.80=$24
The main pipe supplying the drip pipes with water, other accessories and labor will be catered for by the business.

My Videos

Jan 18, 2021: Young and farming

Feedback

Loan Info

Lenders