Water tank for my drip irrigation

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

The dry spell has come to an end with the long rains here. They have followed a prolonged drought that saw many streams dry and wells run dry as the water table went down. Early December 2014 i had planted a quarter acres of tomatoes prospecting high revenues in the dry season that is experienced in the months of January, February and early March in the East African region. In some instances rains in the past were experienced over the dry spell though for a short duration. They reduced the unforgiving realities of drought. Short rains that start in mid October failure preceded the dry spell and what followed is a prolonged drought. I had not foreseen this weather crisis as i undertook my tomato project. For the first two months water was sufficient for my crop. The challenge came when my well run dry and had to hire the services of a truck to ferry water from the river to water my crops eating into my profit. It is in this regard that i have decided to work on a sustainable plan that will enable me harvest rain water and conserve it for use in the dry season. I have a long term plan to dig a ground reservoir in the near future that will hold about 100 cubic metres of water. It thus require a great deal of finances that call for planning. To save the situation i am placing a request for a loan of 166 dollars to acquire a water tank that can hold 3000 litres of water. I currently use a 500litre tank to feed my drip system. I require to pump water for a number of times to irrigate my whole crop which is not even cost efficient due to electricity use. A bigger capacity tank would even help me save time that i spend pumping small amounts of water and spend it in other activities. A 3000 litre tank cost $ 256. Out of this amount i will contribute 90 dollars from my savings. A loan advanced to me by zidisha lenders will be of great help to my business.

My Videos

Jan 18, 2021: Young and farming

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