To plant more potatoes for sale

Entrepreneur

About Me

Hello, I was born on 12th September 1985. I am the eldest in our nuclear family. Our family is based in Molo in Kenya. I have three other brothers called Timothy Mburu, Joseph Gachagua and Simon Mwangi. My father is called Daniel Njenga and my mother is Catherine Gathoni. My father and my mother stay in molo and they are farmers. Timothy stays in Nakuru town where he is employed as a driver. Gachagua works in Molo as motorbike repairer. Mwangi is being trained as a welder.
I went through primary school at Molo View primary school and went to Mugumo high school in Molo. I finished the primary education in October 2003. I was trained as a welder and completed the training in 2005. I went on to work as a welder until 2007. In 2007, I realized that my eye had developed problem because of the light and smoke that come from the welding job. As a result, I had to stop working as a welder. I started helping my father with his farming job. My father plants different types of crops for sale. He rotates them depending on season and possibility of demand. Sometimes he plants wheat, sometimes potatoes and in other times, he plants peas.
As I helped my father with the farming job, I found that I could also do the farming. I looked around and found that there are many people who do farming and are successful. As a result, I had to leave the welding job completely. I had some money that I had saved. I started planting potatoes and they paid well. In 2011, I managed to buy my own one acre piece of land using profits gained from sales of potatoes, peas and wheat. I followed my father in doing the business since I found it to be profitable. I had started initially by leasing land. I still lease more land for cultivation in addition to my one acre. In by the end of 2011, I decided to add livestock in my farming business. I bought one cow that is high breed for the purpose of milk. I planted half acre of Napier glass. I did so because unlike planting, livestock would give me income throughout the year. The cow that I bought already has a calf that is 9 months old. I also purchase more processed food for them. In short, I combine cultivation with animal rearing. I have a wife who helps me with rearing of the cattle. But we do not have child yet. Farming business is good and sometimes even more paying than white collar job. That is why I still want to do farming. The earnings from my farming job help me to sustain my young family needs. I also add more to the farming business. Farming gives better returns when in large scale. That is why I intend to add more into the farming.

My Business

The source of income that I will use to repay the loan is my earning from the farming business. I sell potatoes and peas atleast two times in a year. I make sure that I plant atleast 1 acre of potatoes to make sure that I get good profits. Here in Molo, very thing about planting potatoes and peas is supportive. The soil is good for potatoes and peas. I have not been plantin wheat lately because it requires larger scale for it to be profitable. I make sure that I rotate peas and potatoes. 1 acre of peas gives me revenue of around Kshs. 95,000 even after keeping seeds for the next season. There are expenses such as leasing land (1 acre at Kshs 10,000) paying people who plant (Around Kshs 18,000), cultivating to romove weed, harvesting and others that may arise. Generally, I deduct approximately Kshs 45,000 every season of peas. I get net profit of approximately Kshs. 50,000.
With regard to potatoes, I get revenue of approximately Kshs 115,000 per acre after remaining with seeds for planting the following season. Expenses are like those of peas. They add up to approximately Kshs 50,000. I get a profit of approximately Kshs 65,000. So, potatoes are better than peas. But I have to rotate since failure to do it leads to lower yield. My livestock farming also pays me well. The cow produces approximately 28 liters of milk every day. At home, we use 4 liters and sell the rest. I sell one liter at Kshs 35 and sometimes, it goes up. So, I get approximate revenue of Kshs 25,200 every month. Around Kshs 12,000 goes back to the food for the two cows that I have, in addition to napier glass that I have planted. One of them is young and 9 months now. I know the production will increase once the other cow delivers. I have positive income and will be able to pay my loan.
Despite all that, I have always wanted to expand my farming, especially planting of potatoes and peas. The rainy season has set in and we are planting. zidisha loan will help me to achieve my plans. I have learned that I can get good loan with time that can help me to cultivate larger chunks of land and which will lead to my success. I have an opportunity to sell my produce in the market and get better returns than to sell to brokers. At the moment, my funds little savings are not enough to allow me to do that. I am aiming to use Zidisha loan plus my savings well and get to my vision.

Loan Proposal

Hi to Zidisha and lenders. Thank you for giving me this chance. I have an opportunity to expand my farming business activities. Now that we are planting potatoes, I will use the $150 to add half acre of land that I will lease at Kshs 5000. I will then use the remaining cash to purchase potato seeds for the farm, with the help of my savings. In the future, I want to expand my farming and to become a largescale farmer. I will be able to use my income from livestock rearing in repaying the loan without problems. I would like to access bigger loans in the future so that I get better returns from potato farming. Thank you for opening this rare opportunity to us.

Feedback

Loan Info

Lenders