I grew up in a rural setting and partly, that has been part of my life all through. Rustic, and literally, down to earth. I helped my grandmother till her land over weekends during school terms and subconsciously, I was being prepared to make farming an integral part of my life yet I didn't know it then.

The climate in my area is generally wet and sunny, and that makes it ideal for farming. With vast lands that is easily accessible through leasing, I opted to make farming part of my life. I raise beans, and sunflower, and some occasional sweet potatoes when the season is right. Besides farming, and making edible oil, I have a clothes business.

When I am not farming, I like travelling and speaking to young students about believing in themselves and pursuing their dreams. Whenever I can, I like making an impact for poor people by buying them household provisions and encouraging them to pick themselves up and transform their lives.

SInce 2016, I started experimenting with producing sunflower seeds, and later pressing them for oil, which I used, and sold extra to my friends and family. Many people realize the health and nutritional value of sunflower oil and that has inadvertently spiked the demand of this highly valuable oil, and I have experienced the benefits firsthand.

Besides being a substance that helps people stay away from the doctor, it is highly loaded in essential oils that enhance healthy and good living. The inquiries about the oil started flowing in and I realized I could take this venture up and make it work. Unlike the clothes venture that had me employing just 3 people directly, this sunflower oil processing was making me link up directly with over 20 farmers directly. The women in my village plant and sell the seeds to me and this is impacting on families in a big way.

The costs of producing the seeds are modest, with at least $100 going into tilling, planting, weeding and harvesting an acre of the sunflower crop. Some $20 to $100 goes into inputs like seeds and fertilizers for the same size. After processing and the oil and cake is ready for the market, the revenue is about $500.

The profits I have been getting have been used to prop up the venture further, like acquisition of more farming acreage and training potential farmers to embrace the crop. I have been able to also support a kids football team from the proceeds of the business, have my children in school and guarantee flour for one needy and widowed lady around my neighbourhood.

These funds will help me provide affordable and chemical-free healthy cooking oil for my community.

We are heading into the festive season. Demand for cooking oils is on the rise. Cooking oil prices have soared in recent days and that has affected cooking patterns in poor households, even in my community. Some homes have done away with preparing dishes requiring oils, and quietly, this is causing nutritional deficiencies.

With no possibility of lower cooking oil prices in the coming days, some households will have a very tasteless Christmas celebration. Some families in my community will not afford to fry their meals.

I will use the funds to acquire a tonne and a half of sunflower seeds from local farmers. I will press the seeds in my oil press, located right in my community. My project will produce about 1000 litres of pure sunflower cooking oil. This will be sold at half the market price to the community. In my community, cooking oil in stores retails at $3.5. I intend to sell mine at no more than $1.8 a litre.

This project will earn my community an income from selling their seeds, at a better price to me than brokers, and I will earn a little profit serving my community. Furthermore, it will be a start to encourage more local farmers to grow the sunflower crop. The sunflower crop is more drought resistant than maize. It will also earn them a higher income than maize, and yields better. A higher income will lead to improved living standards.

That my operational overheads are low, since we use no chemicals to purify the oil, but just filter and our customers bring their own containers at purchase, I expect a 40% profit.