Entrepreneur

About Me

I am a 32 year old Kenyan citizen who graduated from Technical University of Kenya with Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Electrical and Electronics Second Class Honors (Upper Division).
I am currently an Automation Engineer alongside a farmer, CEO at the Kamandes Farm in Makuyu, Central Kenya

My Business

I deal with mainly farming apart from the other part time job as an event organizer.
Kenya has about 40 million people. Agriculture contributes over 25 percent of the GDP. Close to 80 percent of the population live in the rural areas and derive much of their livelihood from land i.e. crops and livestock. Sixteen percent of the country is High and Medium Potential Land (HMPL) while the remaining 84 percent, supporting about 25 percent of the human population, is classified as Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) areas where livestock is almost the sole source of livelihood for the communities living in the area. Livestock contributes about 50 percent of Agricultural GDP and over 10 percent of the national GDP. Dairy production, the largest contributor to the livestock GDP, accounts for an estimated 33 percent of the agricultural GDP (Staal et al., 2003).
Farming as a business is a relatively new concept for small-scale farmers who have traditionally farmed as a way of life to provide for their subsistence needs. Commercial farming was previously associated with industrial crops and large-scale farms.
The Kamandes Farm involves a deliberate choice of farm enterprises with an aim of maximizing on the benefits that farmers gain from their activities. It involves a change in the way smallholder farming is perceived. This is because farming is a profitable venture which provides gainful employment and a source of livelihood for many people.
Having started its operations in 2000 by my parents, it didn’t produce much then as little capital was invested in it due to the fact that they were working and living in Thika. In 2002, My Mother left Thika to go to Makuyu and concentrate on the farm and was later followed by my Father in 2008. I was left in Thika while working in various companies as depicted in my curriculum vitae before joining the Kenya Polytechnic University College in 2010. I have attached my calling letter to the institution.
In 2011, I took control of operations in the farm. I have managed to make a variety of achievements among them being purchasing a Friesian calf, registering the farm at Sheria House, enlightening my parents on good farming practices that I have managed to learn from school and through various projects like Agricultural shows, extension officers, field days, radio programmes, magazines, internet, brochures and booklets. So far, I have managed to achieve these, high academic honors while still ensuring operations ran smoothly in the farm and I believe with Zidisha's Assistance, more will be felt largely.
The Expansion and Improvement project of the Kamandes Farm with additional poultry houses will have a significant impact on the livelihood of many people and the country at large in its Gross Domestic Product.The loan will give me room to create more employment opportunities for the less fortunate around my home area, minimizing idleness and crime. We will also be in a position to fully utilize the available resources, start an awareness programme to my fellow students in school and also to the world at large by setting up a website that will seek the youth to practice farming as either a career or part time occupation that will make them not sorely rely on getting jobs in the corporate world which is increasingly becoming difficult.

Loan Proposal

I am a 23 year old farmer and a 5th year Electrical engineering student at the Technical University of Kenya. In my farm, I rear chicken and have turkeys. To increase my sales and profit of white meat, I want to rear rabbits which have proved to be a very profitable business venture in Kenya. Through Zidisha Loan, I will be able to purchase adult rabbits both male and female which will siren within 28 days and hence from there I will start selling their young ones and also keep others for meat. This will greatly increase my profit and eventually make me one of the lenders in Zidisha to give back to what it has invested in me.

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