Farming is not for the faint-hearted

"Money doesn't come easily; it takes hard work, determination and a lot of patience to earn it," says Rosemary Kibui, a Strathmore alumna entrepreneur who shared her story with Pauline Kuria A survey done by the Institute of Economic Affairs in 2003 indicated that only 4.7% of urban youth in Kenya wanted to be farmers, and only 9.5% of the youth between 21 and 25 years wanted to start their own businesses. Either the trend has changed or Rosemary, a 2008 BBIT graduate is in a very select group of 21-25 year old Kenyans. 24 year old Rosemary is growing mushrooms at the foot of Ngong Hills in the outskirts of Nairobi. Has she always been passionate about farming, the backbone of the country's economy as the cliché goes? Hers is an emphatic NO! "I grew up in Nyeri and my mother would drag all my siblings to the shamba to tend to potatoes and coffee," she recalls. But she hated farm work so much that she became allergic to it. "I used to grow lumps all over my skin. I was taken to see and doctor and he said it was an allergy. I think it was psychological. But it got me exempted from farm work and my siblings were jealous," she said with a soft laugh. So how did she end up farming? "I wanted to pursue Pharmacy after high school. But I missed the cut-off mark for the course by three points. I didn't have a plan B and when my Dad asked me what else I wanted to do, I told him I didn't know. He pulled out two brochures from Strathmore University one for Bachelor of Commerce (BCOM) and one for BBIT (Bachelor of Business Information Technology) the only degrees offered at Strathmore then and asked me to choose between the two. I went through the courses as outlined in the brochure and settled for BBIT. But by end of second year, I knew IT was not for me," said the alumna of Thika's Mary Hill Girls High School. But she slogged on and graduated in 2008 with a first class. The idea of growing mushrooms came from a friend who had a brother who was in the business. "My partner and I were always complaining about our jobs. We were very disillusioned and wanted to move on. So this friend told us her brother was growing mushrooms and doing well. We went to see him and he explained to us the intricacies of the business and we were sold," she explained. How is the business getting on? "It is tough. Mushroom growing is a knowledge intensive course. The learning curve has been long and steep. Unlike a job where you are actually paid as you learn the ropes, there is no such luxury in business. First, we had to contend with an unscrupulous character who offered to train us but misled us. This was a huge setback as we had to start learning all over again," Rosemary related. "Then we are a start up and there no bank is willing to bet its money on us. Not even KWFT (Kenya Women Finance Trust). KWFT lends to women groups but not to a group of two. So we don't qualify," she said. "But we were heartened that Chora Bizna, the countrywide business planning competition organized by the Ministry of Youth ranked us second runners up countrywide. The fact that some judges seating somewhere determined our idea was worth something was uplifting. We were also awarded some cash which we ploughed into the business," Rosemary enthused. What keeps her going? "The freedom of being my own boss! It is very demanding but also very rewarding when you are your own boss because you know what you invest is what your get. The sheer challenge of starting something from scratch and seeing it grow is also exhilarating. Even if this does not work, I will try something else. Failure is not an option," she says almost sub-consciously revealing for a moment the steel beneath the velvet glove. The photographer with me chides her that maybe she got the farming bug from her mum. She mulls over this for a moment and agrees that she is taking after a mum in very cunning ways. "My mum is a hustler. We tease her that the only business she hasn't been in is funeral homes!" Rosemary says with a deep laugh. The Future "The business plans to start training sessions for farmers this year. There is a lot of unethical behavior in the business and we want to do something about it. We will start training people in 2010 about mushroom growing. We have prepared two rooms for this," she revealed. Rosemary has become very proficient in the business. She explained that it takes about three months from the start to harvesting. Since she grows her mushrooms organically produced, she uses a minimum use of insecticides. Instead, the rooms where they grow are sanitized. "They have to be very clean. We keep flying insects out by using nets for example," she said. How was life at Strathmore? What was your experience like in Strathmore? "Well, I made good friends. I also learnt the virtue of humility and patience. This was especially when dealing with the guards. I learnt not to get angry very fast and for me that was a good thing which I think has helped me in my day to day life," she said. A word of advice to Strathmore graduates who aspire to be entrepreneurs. "Money doesn't come easily. It's through hard work, determination and of course focus. Patience is an important aspect in entrepreneurship because your hard work takes long to payoff." She said. Rosemary is a member of Strathmore Alumni Entrepreneurs Club (SAEC). SAEC will be launched on 27th February 2010. She says she was impressed by the number of SU graduates who showed up at the entrepreneurs' reunion held in July 2009. She also says she would be happy to give talks on entrepreneurships to Strathmore students if invited to do so. Last word Rosemary is extremely grateful to her parents for believing in her and supporting her in her business. "My parents paid for my degree. The easy thing for them to do would be to ask me to look for a job. But they have been very supportive and have helped me establish the business. I am also pursuing a master's degree in Finance at USIU and my parents are paying the fees for me," she said.

Source: SALO (2010-01-14)