I was born in a semi arid area and the main activity there is cattle rearing. Due to the harsh climatic conditions the pastrolists keep poor quality indigenous breed and they don’t make much from this activity.
I spent my childhood looking after by father’s cattle as was the norm them. I also attended school for my primary and secondary school before moving in to raise my own family an effort to break the yoke of poverty back home.
I was lucky enough to get a job in a food processing factory. I worked there for 11 years while making savings and learning skills that would come in handy when I started a similar business of my own later.
I am happily married with three children all who are in school.
My business deals with selling of food spices, food colors and flavours. I have been running this business for a long time and I do it with help of my brother, my wife and some casuals. I buy spices like cumin, cloves, pepper etc from farmers then dry and later ground them to fine form for sale to wholesalers and retail outlets.
There is always a ready market in Mombasa due to its large population of locals who like to put strong spices in their delicacies. There is also a huge market in the neighboring countries but I am yet to venture there due to financial constraints which have limited me to just serving the local market. I hope to create confidence with Zidisha lenders and with time get a good enough credit to enable me expand my business territory.
I make a net profit of $400 per month but this can easily go up if I am given a financial credit backing which I have lacked for a long time.
We are now in high tourist season. This has led to an upsurge in demand for food items to cater for the large number of tourists visiting the area. I will buy an assortment of spices like cinnamon, cloves, chilli and pepper. I will also buy ginger and garlic. All these items are in high demand and I expect to do a good business in the next few months.
I will use about USD 450 to buy the items and the balance will cater for transport and other small expenses.
Easy food from green house
I was born in a semi arid area and the main activity there is cattle rearing. Due to the harsh climatic conditions the pastrolists keep poor quality indigenous breed and they don’t make much from this activity.
I spent my childhood looking after by father’s cattle as was the norm them. I also attended school for my primary and secondary school before moving in to raise my own family an effort to break the yoke of poverty back home.
I was lucky enough to get a job in a food processing factory. I worked there for 11 years while making savings and learning skills that would come in handy when I started a similar business of my own later.
I am happily married with three children all who are in school.
My business deals with selling of food spices, food colors and flavours. I have been running this business for a long time and I do it with help of my brother, my wife and some casuals. I buy spices like cumin, cloves, pepper etc from farmers then dry and later ground them to fine form for sale to wholesalers and retail outlets.
There is always a ready market in Mombasa due to its large population of locals who like to put strong spices in their delicacies. There is also a huge market in the neighboring countries but I am yet to venture there due to financial constraints which have limited me to just serving the local market. I hope to create confidence with Zidisha lenders and with time get a good enough credit to enable me expand my business territory.
I make a net profit of $400 per month but this can easily go up if I am given a financial credit backing which I have lacked for a long time.
We are now in high tourist season. This has led to an upsurge in demand for food items to cater for the large number of tourists visiting the area. I will buy an assortment of spices like cinnamon, cloves, chilli and pepper. I will also buy ginger and garlic. All these items are in high demand and I expect to do a good business in the next few months.
I will use about USD 450 to buy the items and the balance will cater for transport and other small expenses.