Rabbit and strawberry business expansion

Entrepreneur

About Me

My name is Harun Mwangi,23 years of age and aeronautical engineering is my proffesion. I'm a kenyan from kiambu county but currently living in Nairobi.Mr Mwangi comes from a family of four and the only man of the house.It's unfortunate my dad passed away in 1998 during the Nairobi bomb blast as an employee in an insurance firm at Ufundi House.Being the first born,i feel naturally mandated to take responsibility of the two sisters and mum who requires alot of support.
Besides being interested in aircraft dynamics,i totally love agriculture.Agriculture is a venture that will always demand expansion due to the increasing population and as an enterprenuer,i decided to work in a business that will never lack demand for its products.Other than being a promising business, good nutrition for a working people is paramount and i decided to be a supplier of the same.I have reared rabbits and planning to farm strawberries,keep sting- less bees and in the long term start value addition of different food stuff,packaging and exportation.I'm also planning to work with some children orphanages in our county by establishing business for them and buying products from them.In this way they get a source of income and also engages them in employment.

My Business

I currently have reared 80 grown New Zealand White (does) rabbits (and 4 bucks)and planning to start strawberry farming, bee keeping and in the long term start a company for food value addition and exportation of different food stuff. The urine from the rabbits and manure (which is also an income earner) will be used in strawberry farming, the bees will help in pollination. From the first zidisha loan I plan to buy 300 strawberry seedlings at a cost of about 70$and 300 polythene bags from where I plant the seedlings at a cost of 18$. I will employ a casual labourer to water and cater for the seedlings for the first two months, twice weekly, which will cost 65$. The strawberry market is doing very well locally, with a punnet of 250gm averaging about 3$. Currently apart from rearing the rabbits for home consumption, I am also a breeder, with four bucks, each for 20 does of high-breed New Zealand whites. At the moment, 30 of the does are expectant, due between 15th-28th of this month; I sell one-month old bunnies at 6$ each and with time, as the rabbit industry grows, I have made a name for myself in my home area as one of the top breeders and most of the time, am unable to satisfy the huge market. A fully grown rabbit goes for a minimum 17$, and currently, am with a company based in Nairobi, that contracts farmers to sell them the fully grown rabbits; this assures me of a ready market. I also have plans to become a consultant in rabbit rearing, as I have been getting a lot of courtesy calls from many prospective farmers. The manure and urine from the hatches, and which is also in high demand in farms for its high nitrogenous nutrients, will be used in the strawberry seedlings and the surplus sold.

Loan Proposal

Hi, my zidisha family? Hope you are all doing fine. I would like to first and foremost thank all of you for being supportive and helping me acquire financing for my agribusiness. I also want to report that so far, the business has been on an upward trend, which has given me and my family great joy!! The rabbit business, which has been the parent business, has been growing in bounds and am glad to say that I have now broken even and started to reap bigger benefits! As I had planned, my focus has shifted slightly towards strawberry farming and in building its capacity to support the rabbit farm. I acquired a water tank and managed to increase the number of seedlings; the first phase (about 320 seedlings), is almost ready for the market, while the ones I recently added (300 seedlings) are progressing commendably. I have however noted that some swarms of birds are starting to settle near the farm in readiness for the strawberry ripening. To curb the produce being destroyed, I am planning to buy and cover the entire plot with second hand fish nets (which act as bird nets and are cheaper). The second hand fish nets cost approximately 70$ (unlike a new bird net that costs 0.87$ per metre square); it will cover an area of about 30m * 20m. This will be adequate for the fruits that are getting ripe in the first phase. Am also planning on starting the journey into apiculture business, which I have been doing a lot of research on. This will help in increasing the strawberry productivity and yields by an estimated 30% through cross pollination, by the active agents, the bees. Am planning on using the remainder of the loan money, about 75$, to buy a bee-keeping kit from an established firm in the country, African Beekepers. From my savings in the sale of rabbits, I will procure 4 langstroth bee hives, which are best suited for the practice. This will cost me an average 186$, which I believe is a good investment. Am planning on increasing the number of hives with time. I have hired a casual farm hand and also bought a weighing scale for the purpose of weighing the produce i.e strawberries and rabbit meat. I am hoping that you will continue to walk with me as I grow my agribusiness ‘empire’ and create employment.

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